


live fast, die young, bad girls do it well

by twoorangecookies



Series: mob wives and their kid [1]
Category: Legacies (TV 2018), Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mob, F/F, Mayhem, Murder, Sex, Shooting, Torture, mafia, mentions of child slave ring, other legacies characters appear, penelope park IS trimberly's daughter, the other rangers appear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2020-05-12 04:46:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 34,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19221871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twoorangecookies/pseuds/twoorangecookies
Summary: It’s a classic story, really. Girl meets girl, girls fall in love, then girls take over their fathers’ legacies. Running the mob.orAU with mob wives Trimberly and their daughter Penelope. What happens when innocent Josie Saltzman enters their world? And when faced with their biggest threat yet, how will Trini and Kimberly ensure their whole world continues to be safe and in their control?





	live fast, die young, bad girls do it well

**Author's Note:**

  * For [scarletassasin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarletassasin/gifts).



> So...this got out of hand. What started as a simple birthday fic turned into...100 pages of this. I really hope you like it! Comment and let me know what you liked! If I missed any important tags please feel free to let me know and I'll add them.
> 
> A very happy (belated) birthday to bluearrow126 on tumblr! And thanks to RealistTash for the brainstorming help. Thank you to my friends for supporting me in my endeavor these last 2.5 weeks.
> 
> If you like this and wanna see other works in this AU, or ask me questions!, follow me on tumblr: 5ivebyfive
> 
> (ps. I'm really terrified to post this, because of how much it has come to mean to me!)

 It’s a classic story, really. Girl meets girl, girls fall in love, then girls take over their fathers’ legacies. Running the mob.

 

You see, Richard ‘Dicky Boy’ Hart and Gustav ‘Gus the Gunner’ Rodriguez were the heads of their respective families. The Harts and the Rodriguez's had an understanding going back decades. A treaty of peace, if you will. They kept to their respective cities, side by side, and didn’t interfere with each other’s businesses. The original fathers of the families were friends, and their children and those that came after them respected that. Gustav and Richard were no different.

 

In fact, the two men were very similar. Both were deadly when crossed, but good to their people. Both had loving wives that minded the children and kept their lives running. Both had daughters that were trouble from the start. Though the business was usually meant for the men of the family, Gustav and Richard began grooming their daughters from a young age. The girls were taught to fight, to hold weapons, and to trust no one outside the family. The girls grew up as all girls do. They went to school, they helped out around the house or the respected business of the family, and they learned all about death, money, and brotherhood.  

 

The girls met from time to time when they were young, before it made any lasting impression. They knew of one another. But they went about their own lives, just a city apart, and grew into very deadly women. Both liked what they did, and both were very good at it.

 

Richard passed first. Killed in a gunfight with another family; one that wasn’t so peaceful. His daughter, Kimberly, stepped into his shoes. She was fiery and sharp. She knew how to wrap people around her finger and get exactly what she wanted. She used her wiles and charm, and it worked for her every time. Her father’s men respected her and would die for her if they had to. She was only twenty-two.

 

Gustav went two years later. A heart attack. Trinity, or Trini as they all called her, took her calling. Where Kimberly “Killer Kim” was delicate, moves like a dance, Trini “The Yellowjacket” was hard and direct. Trini didn’t take shit from anyone, and she hated playing games. Trini would kill a man before listening to his excuses, and she knew there’d just be someone else to take his place. She wasn’t heartless, though. She took care of her mother and her brothers with a gentleness that only they could see. She was also twenty-two.

 

Two girls, from separate cities, more alike than they knew.

 

It would be only a week from Gustav’s death that the two would meet, as adults, and neither knew what was coming.

 

Kimberly wanted to meet and pay her respects, for their families still held a bond, and she knew all too well what Trini was going through. The meeting was cold, but respectful. They talked business. They had a scotch. Then they went their separate ways.

 

They would meet several more times throughout the year to see what the other had going on, to share business, and to swap war stories. Until one night they met without their men, and they shared a whole bottle, and one thing led to another and they took each other on the table of that back room in a long night of passion. They would again part, but meet again, and again, until it was a drug that neither could quit.

 

Oh, their men figured it out, but they kept quiet. It wasn’t their business what their bosses were up to. They made sure it stayed a secret. After all, it was just for thrill, wasn’t it? The heat of the job?

 

But over time, it got softer. More reverent. Touches lasted longer, and parting became harder. They had been doing this for a year, and it was high time they saw it for what it was.

 

They were falling in love.

 

Oh, it wasn’t easy to accept. How can it be when it could make things so complicated?

 

Trini took it hardest. She shut Kimberly out. Cut her off.

 

But Kimberly, when she sees what she wants she gets it; always has. And she wanted Trini. So she didn’t give up, didn’t let Trini push her away, and a month later when they made love for the first time, it lasted well into the morning. And neither were the same ever again.

 

Conflict would come and go, arguments would happen often and always lead to fiery love-making, but they stayed the course. Their families found out, and most were accepting. Those that weren’t were shown the door. The girls were very serious about one another.

 

It would be another year before discussion of merging the families would begin. A month more when, after a long night of love, Trini would produce a ring and Kimberly would say yes. And within a year, the families became one, powering over two cities, with two happily married matriarchs.

 

It would be foolish to think outside conflict never arose. Other families looking to take them out, take over, but they would overcome all of it, together. Fights, injuries, blood; as long as they had each other they would survive.

 

Then one day, they found even more love. A young girl by the name of Penelope. They rescued her from one of their enemies who looked to sell the girl to the highest bidder, and when they had her safe they couldn’t let her go. Only seven years old, with green eyes full of fear of the world, they knew they were meant to protect her and love her. They raised her as their own, raised her as their fathers had raised them, and they watched her bloom into a beautiful, dangerous young woman.

 

Trini and Kimberly began going by different names, for Penelope’s sake. They were still the Hard-Rodriguez family, all three of them, but on the outside they took on the name Park. Even though they had every intention of introducing Penelope to their world, they wanted her to have one where she was somewhat normal. So they taught her both of her names, and they taught her when and where to use them.

 

And, oh, the story of Kimberly and Trini is a beautiful one, full of danger and epic love, but it is not the story we are telling today. No. The story begins with young Penelope, now of the age her mothers were when they lost their fathers, and it begins with a lovely girl, like all the greatest stories do.

 

* * *

 

 

“Mom!” Penelope walked through the Hart-Rodriguez family restaurant, their front business, and over to a table in the back where Kimberly Hart sat with a notebook and stacks of receipts. She looked up at her daughter and grimaced.

 

“Yes, Pen?”

 

“What’s this I hear about you hiring a new waitress?” Penelope crossed her arms and glowered.

 

“I’m hiring a new waitress,” Kimberly stated, before going back to her books.

 

“Why? We have plenty of waitstaff.” It wasn’t a secret that Penelope was resistant to any change. It was something her mothers worked around over the years.

 

“We don’t. Lilliana is leaving for college.”

 

“Lilliana is an idiot.”

 

“Penelope.”

 

“I thought Bo didn’t want her going away.”

 

“I guess they resolved it,” Kimberly said with a shrug. “Honey, it’ll be fine. Whoever we hire will stay out of your way, I promise.”

 

“They better,” Penelope huffed. “And they don’t get my tips.”

 

“Never, honey.”

 

The door jangled, signaling someone entering, and Penelope dropped her arms and turned towards it, ready to seat whoever was unfortunate enough to decide to come to their establishment. However, as soon as she laid eyes on the person that came through the door, she froze.

 

The girl that walked in was young, like her, and the most beautiful girl Penelope had ever seen. Cliche, right? She was cute, but beautiful. And she was smiling. At Penelope.

 

“ _Pen_ ,” Kimberly prodded.

 

“O-oh,” she stuttered ( she never stuttered! ), and she walked over to the girl. “Just one for lunch?”

 

“Oh, no.” She smoothed her sundress out. “I believe I have an interview? With a Mrs. Park?”

 

Penelope’s eyes widened. “You’re here for an interview? To _work_ here?”

 

“Yes?” The girl then looked uncertain. “Is that a problem?”

 

“ _Why_?”

 

The girl looked around nervously before settling her gaze back on Penelope. “Well...I need a job, and...this is the town’s only Mexican-Indian-Indonesian restaurant so I thought it might be interesting.”

 

Penelope rolled her eyes. “I think it’s the _world’s_ only Mexican-Indian-Indonesian restaurant.”

 

“Y-yeah...I’m sorry, who are you?”

 

With a predatory smirk that she learned from her Mami, Penelope stepped forward and extended her hand. “Penelope Park. My moms own this restaurant.”

 

“Oh. I have an interview with your mother then. My name is Josie. Josie Forbes.” Josie stepped forward and placed her hand in Penelope’s, and Penelope shook it firmly. Their eyes connected and didn’t part. “I...it’s nice to meet you.”

Penelope grazed her teeth over her bottom lip. Okay, so yes, usually she did like them wide-eyed and ready to... _please_ , but this one...there was something about this one.

 

“Penelope!” Kim called from the back corner. Penelope looked over her shoulder at her mom and saw the woman looking at her like she was reading the situation, and Penelope knew well enough that Kim _would_ read it if given much longer. She didn’t want Kim not hiring Josie just because Penelope was...interested. She turned back to Josie.

 

“Good luck,” she said, hip jutting out and hand settling on it. “Don’t let her see your fear.”

 

Josie just blinked at her. “What fear?” Then she smiled softly and walked past Penelope, and Penelope turned to watch her go. Watched her hips sway in that thin, blue sundress. Penelope smirked, hungry, and walked back to the hostess stand where she leaned her elbows down on it and stared out the window.

 

At that moment she watched a sleek, black and golden yellow motorcycle pull up at the curb. A figure stepped off in skin-tight black leather pants, stiletto heels ( not many can ride in stilettos ), a white tank top -- gold chain swinging with each step, black leather jacket, and black aviators. The rider pulled their helmet off and shook their long dark locks free, looked up and down the street, then swaggered their way through the front door.

 

“What are you smiling about?” Her mami asked her, voice high but gravely. Too many nasty cigars, in Penelope’s opinion.

 

Penelope met her mami’s eyes through the sunglasses. “Only the fact that you’re way too old to dress like _that_ and have a ride like _that_ ,” Penelope said, without missing a beat.

 

Trini pushed her sunglasses on top of her head and watched her daughter with narrowed eyes. “You’re not gettin’ my bike,” she said, as though said a thousand times before.

 

“I have a bike,” Penelope replied, already bored and looking away.

 

“Not like mine,” Trini said with a smirk on her lips as she dropped the aviators back over her eyes. “Do some fuckin’ work.” And patted her daughter’s ass before she walked off through the back door.

 

“ _Damn_ , that’s my _wife_!” She heard her mom shout, and she shook her head and dropped it into her hands. Her parents were so embarrassing.

 

* * *

 

 

That night, Trini lay sprawled on her stomach on her bed. Down to her white tank top and yellow and black checkered boxers, she played with the chain around her neck. Her feet were up in the air behind herself, and she watched the news with rapt attention, absorbing all of it. Kim was in the attached bathroom with the door open. She stepped out, massaging moisturizer to her face, pink silk robe around her body.

 

“Babe, did you hear me?”

 

“Yeah,” Trini said, not looking away from the TV.

 

“And?”

 

Trini waited for the commercials to come on before looking up at her wife. “I’m all for hiring Joanie to work for us-”

 

“Josie.”

 

“Whatever. Saltzman Jr. But what happens when Pen sleeps with her and blows her off?”

 

“What makes you think that’ll happen?”

 

Trini rolled her eyes. “Is she pretty?”

 

“...yeah.”

 

“And Pen was already hitting on her?”

 

“Yes,” Kim sighed. She knelt on the bed and sat on the backs of her feet as she took Trini’s hand and traced her fingers.

 

“Penelope is grown. She can do what she wants with whoever she wants, but there’s a reason we don’t hire pretty girls at the restaurant.”

 

“Our kid can’t keep it in her pants,” Kim snorted.

 

Trini laced her fingers with Kim’s. “She’s gonna figure out who Josie’s dad is, and then she’ll figure out why we hired her. Either we tell her now...or we wait for her to figure it out and hope we deal with the problem first.” Trini leaned on her side on one arm and stared at her wife.

 

Kim reached out and ran her fingers through Trini’s hair and smiled at her. “Everything’s gonna work out. Don’t worry.”

 

Trini, usually so sure, looked unsure. For just a moment it flickered on her face. Kimberly caught it. She wrapped her arms around Trini and forced her onto her back, falling on top of her and gazing down into her eyes.

 

“Baby, we’re invincible. This city is ours.”

 

Trini sighed and ran both hands through Kim’s hair, pushing it back. “You’re right.” She scraped her nails across Kim’s scalp, watching the woman’s eyes flutter. “Detective Saltzman will be inclined to work for us,” Trini said slowly, seductively, while her hands ran down Kim’s back. “The old drunk won’t have any other choice.”

 

“We’re putting a lot of trust in Taylor,” Kim said, a soft groan in her words.

 

“Let me worry about him, baby,” Trini said. She leaned up to press a kiss to Kim’s neck.

 

“And what do I worry about?”

 

“Hmm,” Trini hummed. She pushed at the shoulder of the silk robe Kim wore and kissed her bare shoulder. “Me.”

 

“And what do I worry about you?”

 

“Help me relax, baby.”

 

Kim swung a leg over Trini’s waist and set her hands on Trini’s tight abs. “Is my girl stressed?”

 

“Always.”

 

“I can help with that.” Kim smirked and leaned down to brush her lips to Trini’s. Trini slid a hand to the back of Kim’s neck to keep her close and immediately deepened the kiss. Kim gave in, drawing her tongue to Trini’s, and lay down against her. She smirked into the kiss when she felt Trini’s hands on her ass and she rocked her hips down.

 

“Mm, _babe_ ,” Trini murmured.

 

“What do you want, baby?”

 

“I want it hot,” Trini replied, squeezing Kim’s ass.

 

“Ooh,” Kim sat up, grinning. “I like hot.”

 

“Wait, where you goin’?”

 

“I’ve got something new for you,” Kim said. She climbed off of Trini and got off the bed, and she went over to the closet.

 

“What’s that, Princess?” Trini sat up and took off her shirt and tossed it off the bed.

 

“You’ll see.”

 

Trini licked her lips and took off her boxers and watched Kim come back from the closet with something behind her back. “Whatcha got there?” She stretched her chain on her neck, knowing full and well how much Kim loved it on her when she wore nothing else. Kim didn’t even blink.

 

“Well...I had this idea…” She brought her hands around in front of herself and held a plastic bag with something pink in it. Her color. Trini loved her color. Kim brought the bag to her mouth and tore it open with her teeth as she stepped forward. “It’s like the handcuffs, but better.”

 

“Mm, what could be better?” Trini was suddenly filled with ideas after seeing Kim bite it open.

 

Kim pulled pink crepe paper from the bag and threw the bag over her shoulder. “You can’t break the new handcuffs. We went through enough pairs and learned our lesson. But…” She climbed onto the bed on her knees. “What if you _could_? Break free?”

 

“Then I’d take you,” Trini said thickly, moving across the bed towards her wife.

 

“Uh uh,” Kim shook her head and pushed Trini’s hand away. “You’re all about that steel resolution. Your _control_.” She unwound the paper and held up a string of it. “So here’s what’s going to happen...I’m going to tie you up with this, and you-” She tilted her head. “You’re going to resist me, baby.”

 

Trini looked between the paper and her wife. “What?”

 

“Mhmm. Think you can? Or...are you _weak_?” Kim’s eyes narrowed. She knew exactly what she was saying and exactly how Trini would react.

 

Just as she thought, Trini’s nostrils flared and her eyes narrowed. “I’m not weak.”

“Then what do you say? Want to prove it, baby?”

 

“Yes.” Trini moved back to the headboard and sat down, a grim determination on her face.

 

With a smirk, Kim moved across the bed on her knees and pulled one of Trini’s hands up to one side of the headboard and tied a string of paper around her wrist. Again, she cut it with her teeth, and Trini growled. Kim only smiled as she tied the ends together. She moved to the other side and did the same before moving back and staring at her wife all tied up. “Nice,” she said.

 

“Do your worst,” Trini challenged as she settled in.

 

Kim hummed and pushed her robe off her shoulder, dipping her head a little, then looking back up at Trini with pure lust in her eyes. She tugged it down a little further, her breast revealed, but pulled it back up and got to her feet. She went over to her phone and connected it to the speakers and turned on a slow, sensual song with a strong beat. She turned back to face Trini and started to move her hips to the beat. She ran her fingers through her hair, the motion parting her robe to reveal a peek of her body, and Trini drank it in slowly. Already she felt the slow burn of desire run through her body. It always did around her wife. But with her wife doing _that_? Oh heaven.

 

Kim danced slowly towards the bed, and when she reached it she held onto one of the poles and dipped down, her ass out. Trini bit her lip. Kim came back up slowly, her hand sliding down her body and pulling the robe further apart. Not many people knew that Kim had moves, and Trini liked it that way. She also liked the way Kim was slowly letting her robe fall to the floor.

 

Trini had seen Kim’s body a million times before, but each time felt like the first. She was beautiful. Sexy. _Trini’s_. Trini wanted to jump up and claim her wife, but she refused to break so easily. She was nothing if not irrationally stubborn.

 

“Do you wanna touch, baby?” Kim asked lowly, as her own hand caressed her body, running over her breast and down her stomach. Lower. She stopped before she reached the place Trini wanted to touch most and reached out for the pole again. She moved her body in a wave against it then climbed up on the bed to wrap a leg around it, still moving her hips against it. Trini grunted. Kim smirked. She got down on her hands and knees and slowly crawled up the bed towards Trini, ass up in the air, and wrapped her hands around Trini’s ankles. Then she yanked them apart until Trini was spread open before her.

 

“That’s more like it,” she said. She ran a finger up Trini’s leg to her knee and scratched her nails over it. “I’ve been thinking about this all day,” she admitted, playing shy. She leaned down and kissed Trini’s calf. “I’ve been _wet_ all day...just thinking about this moment.” And she shifted to sit on the lower portion of Trini’s leg and just rocked against her skin, rubbing her wetness on it. Trini gulped. It felt good. She wanted her mouth all over it. Kim continued to rock against Trini’s leg. She let her head fall back and moved her hands over her own body sensually. “What if I come right here on your leg?”

 

“Go for it,” Trini husked. Seeing her wife get off like that sounded hot.

 

“I could.”

 

“Not gonna stop you, Princess.”

 

Kim rocked harder, angled her hips, and let out a low moan. “Oh...that feels good.”

 

“Bet my fingers would feel better.”

 

“Then come get me.”

 

“No,” Trini said. She wasn’t going to break that easily. At all.

 

But she was turned on, and she wanted some friction.

 

“Why don’t you come closer?” Trini asked.

 

“I like it here,” Kim replied. One of her hands ghosted down her stomach and between her legs and she rubbed her clit. She moaned again. “Don’t you want to make me come?”

 

“I am. That’s my leg.”

 

Kim continued to rock against Trini and rub herself, and soon she whined. “I need you, baby.”

 

And that got to Trini. She started to move, to break free, but she stopped and settled back, breathing hard. Kim was trying to make her break, and she could out stubborn Kim any day. Or, try to. So she watched, painfully, as Kim got off on her leg. Eventually, her wife cried out with her orgasm and her hips slowed. She sat quietly for a moment before humming and sliding her hand up Trini’s leg. She crawled closer, eyes dark on Trini, and stopped at her waist.

 

“Want me now?” She asked, her voice thick. Trini nodded. Kim’s fingers ran up the inside of Trini’s thigh slowly to the apex between her legs, but stopped before she could touch her. “Aw, honey, I can smell how bad you want me from here.”

 

“Just touch me,” Trini hissed.

 

“No please?”

 

“No.”

 

“Then no.” Kim sat back on her feet.

 

“Kimberly.”

 

“Oh, full name?” Kim grinned.

 

Trini’s wrists shook from where they hung. She wanted to grab her wife and throw her down, ride her face until she came, but that would mean that Kim won. Trini couldn’t have that. She tried to relax back. “Do what you want,” she said, dismissively.

 

“Okay!” Kim beamed. She put her hands to either side of Trini’s waist and leaned down to kiss her pubic bone on one side. Then she did the other. Then she ran her tongue from one side to the other and up Trini’s waist.

 

“Wrong direction.”

 

Kim ignored her and continued running her tongue against Trini’s skin, stopping to bite her here and there. Hard enough to leave marks. Kim loved marking her wife. Everyone knew Trini was hers already, but she still wanted to prove it. She kissed and bit her way up Trini’s body, resting herself between Trini’s legs so that her stomach was pressed there. Immediately, Trini started to rock her hips up. Kim pushed back down, feeling wetness spread across her stomach. She smirked into Trini’s flesh, making her way to the two glorious boobs that lay above her. She let Trini move against her for a bit as she kissed and nipped at Trini’s breasts. Easily her favorite part. She pulled a nipple into her mouth and bit it softly before sucking on it, and she heard Trini groan. She flicked her tongue against it and released it with a pop, then bit a mark on the top of Trini’s breast. A mean one. Trini groaned out again, her hips moving harder. Kim knew that Trini liked a little bit of pain, and she was always happy to oblige.

 

“Fuck, Princess...need more…” Trini gasped out.

 

Kim had moved to the other breast, giving it the same attention, and she chuckled. “Like this?” She drew her hand down between their bodies and ran her fingers through her wife’s folds.

 

“Yes,” sighed Trini. “More.”

 

“This?” Kim pressed a finger into her and moved it slowly.

 

“Please, baby…”

 

Kim leaned back, sitting on her heels again, and took her finger from Trini. She wasn’t touching her at all anymore. Trini opened glaring eyes at her wife, and Kim just smiled at her as she slid her finger into her mouth and licked it clean.

 

“That was mean,” Trini growled.

 

“Then stop me.”

 

Again, Trini almost did, but she held back. “No.”

 

“Okay,” Kim nearly sang. She sat back, moving her legs to lay across Trini’s, and spread herself open. She took her wet finger and brought it down to circle her clit. Her eyes closed and she moved her finger into herself, and Trini whined as she watched Kim start to fuck herself. Trini’s legs shook with how hard she was resisting. She couldn’t look away from Kim’s hand and the way it worked her over. She watched her wife add a second finger and drop her head back with a moan. She was moving fast, with purpose, and Trini wanted to be the one doing it.

 

“Mmm, Trin,” Kim whined, as her thumb circled her clit.

 

Hearing Kim moan her name like that was too much. It sounded just as it did when Trini was fucking her, and Trini found herself jealous. Jealous of Kim’s own hand. It needed to be her hand. It should have been her hand. And when Trini saw more wetness start to coat Kim’s hand, it was all she could take. She ripped her hands from the headboard and threw herself at Kim, knocking her wife onto her back. Kim made a sound of surprise and Trini reached down to pull Kim’s hand from herself.

 

“That’s _my_ job,” she growled. She was angry. She was turned on. She was exactly where Kim wanted her. Trini pushed two fingers into her wife and started moving them fast and hard. “You don’t need to do that when you have me.” She stared down into Kim’s eyes, her own darker than usual. Kim stared back, wide eyed, and nodded. Trini fucked her hard, relentless, but still with an undercurrent of love. Kim’s eyes closed as she gave into the pleasure. Her sounds delighted Trini. She didn’t even care that she lost. She was giving her wife the pleasure she deserved, and that’s all she cared about. She leaned down and kissed hot, searing kisses up Kim’s neck as she listened to the woman’s moans. “You like it like this, hm?” She murmured into Kim’s neck.

 

“Y-yes,” Kim gasped.

 

“ _Good_ ,” Trini said. She moved down Kim’s body and lowered her mouth to her wife’s clit and sucked on it. Kim’s hips shot up and she yelped. Trini pushed them back down and continued her ministrations. Her only thought was of making her wife feel good. And to teach her that Trini wasn’t one to be tested. Though, Kim already knew that.

 

It didn’t take much longer before Kim’s body was convulsing and twitching with her orgasm, and Trini guided her through it gently. She pulled her hand free and looked up at Kim above her. Kim just lay there, eyes closed, breathing hard. The fierceness inside of Trini started to fade, and she lay her body against Kim’s and kissed the edge of her lips. “That was a good idea, baby,” she cooed.

 

Kim smiled softly. “I know.”

 

“Smart ass,” Trini chuckled. Then she kissed Kim deeply. Kim kissed her back sloppily, but Trini was happy with it. She rested her head on the bed beside Kim’s and waited for her wife to regain herself. Trini just stared at Kim, admiring her beauty. She had always thought Kim was the most beautiful woman in the world, even when they first met.

 

“What?” Kim asked.

 

“You’re beautiful,” Trini whispered.

 

“Thank you.” Kim turned and opened her eyes to smile at her wife. “You’re beautiful, too.”

 

“I know,” Trini said with a smirk.

 

Kim laughed and shoved Trini softly. “Don’t ruin the moment.”

 

“Then keep the moment goin’, Princess,” Trini replied.

 

Kim rolled them over and settled against her wife. “Aw, is my poor baby all turned on?”

 

“After that show you put me through? I’m so turned on I could explode.”

 

“So explode for me.” Kim ran her hand down Trini’s body, through her folds, and immediately pressed two fingers into her. Trini gasped. “You were so good for me.” Kim moved her fingers faster and watched Trini’s face go through the motions. “I bet I can make you come so fast after all that waiting.”

 

“Do it,” Trini hissed. She didn’t care about a long drawn out orgasm. She just wanted to get off. Kim grinned and pressed her thumb to Trini’s clit. Trini rocked her hips up. “Yes.”

 

“Come for me, baby,” Kim cooed. She circled her thumb quickly and curled her fingers up to hit that sweet spot. Trini groaned and grabbed onto the bedsheets, wrinkling them tightly in her grasp, and in the next moment her body seized and orgasmed hard. She cried out her wife’s name, and Kim licked her lips, enjoying the view. “My, that was fast.” Kim pulled her fingers away and licked them clean. Trini couldn’t move.

 

“One more minute of you torturing me and I woulda come on the spot,” Trini said gruffly.

 

“Now _that_ would have been hot.”

  


* * *

 

 

Josie was hired, and the first couple of weeks were uneventful. As uneventful as the daughter of two mob bosses could be, that is. Penelope oversaw some smaller time goonies for her moms. An introduction to the life, as they would say. It was child’s play. She didn’t even get to get her hands bloody very often, and just what fun was that?

 

But she did enjoy, more than usual, being a manager at the restaurant. It was left to her to train Josie, and she took every opportunity to flirt with the girl. She used all her best lines, but Josie didn’t bat an eye. That only made Penelope try harder. Girls _never_ resisted her. But she had to be careful. She knew where the line was, and she knew she was close to it.

 

Penelope sat in the booth across from Josie as Josie rolled silverware into the napkins. Penelope had been watching Josie closely, not saying a word, but finally she spoke up.

 

“What made you even decide to apply here?” She asked, curiously.

 

“Oh, there was a flier at the laundromat by my apartment. There was only one tear-slip left so I thought, why not?” Josie shrugged and looked up, smiling slightly. “Why are you so obsessed with why I work here?”

 

That smile, small as it was, jilted Penelope, and she was at a loss for a moment before regaining herself. “Curious,” she said cooly. “I like to know who I work with.”

 

“What else would you like to know?” Josie paused her work and stared at Penelope with a wide and open gaze. It was almost too much. Penelope swallowed.

 

“What made you accept the job?”

 

“You,” Josie said easily, resuming her work and looking down.

 

“Me?” Penelope half laughed.

 

“Mm...you were rude...full of yourself...but I could tell how important this place is to you. I could see how much you love your moms. I thought...how it must feel so warm to have something like this to share with close family…I wanted to see it closer.”

 

Penelope raised her brows and listened to Josie talk, and each word struck her heart because they were true. But she didn’t want Josie to know that. “That’s corny as hell,” she finally said in a low drawl. “And my family doesn’t do corny.” Unless you count her mom’s jokes.

 

“Mine either,” Josie said softly. “I mean, sometimes Mom and Hope get into snark-offs and...I guess that’s their version of corny.”

 

“And what do you get from them?” Penelope was unable to look away from Josie.

 

Josie continued rolling and setting the complete product aside. She did it a few more times, silently, until she spoke. “My mom isn’t that motherly. She’s great and she’s attentive...she loves me, but...she travels a lot.”

 

“What about your dad?”

 

Josie stiffened at that. She clutched tightly to the knife in her hand and Penelope’s eyes fell to it. Something, almost primal, struck her at the sight of Josie’s soft, long fingers gripped around the handle. She bit her lip and tried to starve off the low burn she felt.

 

“Don’t ask me about him,” Josie said darkly. Between the knife and the tone, it took Penelope all she had not to jump over the table for the girl. Josie looked up and jumped slightly at the dark look in Penelope’s eyes. “Are...are you okay?”

 

Penelope closed her eyes, broke the connection, and she took a deep breath. “Fine,” she said evenly. She was fine.

 

They didn’t talk more about their families from there, but Penelope was quickly falling into an obsession with Josie. The girl was kind, and funny, and there was something mysterious about her. And Penelope loved mysterious. It was like a challenge that she had to complete. She was even closer to that line, that line that she shouldn’t cross, and she knew she needed to step back, but she couldn’t.

 

So a few weeks later, she couldn’t help herself when she approached Josie at the register to show her something. She stood behind Josie, reached around her, and let their hands brush. She knew she looked hot that day. She was wearing a black mini skirt, black knee-high boots, and a white men’s button up shirt buttoned just above her cleavage. She looked good, and if Josie could really turn her down than Penelope would have to accept that she was wrong and Josie was too straight to turn.

 

“Then you just press this,” she said, voice low. She pressed the button and they watched the drawer open.

“I...uh, forgot,” Josie said. She tucked her hands together in front of herself and Penelope pulled her hand away. Too much, she figured.

 

She took a step back, and as she was about to walk off, tail between her legs, Josie spun around and stole her gaze. “Does this usually work for you?” She asked.

 

Penelope raised her brows, took the question in, and lifted her shoulders. “Honestly? Yes.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Really.” Penelope tilted her head. “It’s not working?”

 

“Isn’t it inappropriate?” Josie crossed her arms tightly.

 

“I suppose,” Penelope relented. “Is it really not working?” Her nose wrinkled, confused.

 

“I’m not going to sleep with you.”

 

“Okay…” Penelope nodded, and then the next words came out before passing through her brain. Had they, she would have kept her mouth shut. “Then what about coffee?” Coffee? _Coffee_? Penelope didn’t do coffee!

 

“Coffee?” Josie’s head tilted. Her eyes narrowed. “Just...coffee?”

 

“Yes!” The word came out sharper, less in control, than Penelope would have liked. She bit her lip and considered it. Was this girl really worth that? Sitting in some lame cafe with a cup of coffee that would never compare to her mami’s, and... _talking_?

 

But she caught the sparkle in Josie’s eyes, the slight curl of her lips, and remembered the day before when she had made Josie laugh, and the sound of it. Her lips turned up into a small smile, private, only for Josie, and she nodded.

 

“Yeah,” she sighed, giving in. “Let’s have coffee.”

 

“Okay.” Josie nodded and her smile grew, and Penelope’s heart pounded faster. “Coffee,” Josie repeated.

 

“After close?” Penelope asked hopefully.

 

“Sure. I just have to let Hope know.”

 

“Hope is...the roommate?”

 

“Yeah. She’s used to me not going out so...she’d worry.”

 

Penelope congratulated herself on remembering correctly, and she nodded. “Okay. I should go check on the kitchen. Just...keep doing...what you’re doing,” she said, stepping away. “You’re...doing good.” She spun and disappeared into the kitchen before she could stupidly say anything else.

 

“You good, Peez?”

 

Penelope looked over at M.G., one of the line cooks and her only real friend, and she nodded. She couldn’t even tell him about it. What would he _think_ of her? Probably not much worse than she already thought.

 

“Good,” she said softly, unable to believe herself.

 

* * *

 

 

While this is a story of young love, it is also a story of mystery, violence, and murder. And our queens have every bit of that to offer to our story.

 

Kim stood by the door of the dimly lit room, roughly the size of a small bedroom, and watched as Jason threw hit after hit at the man tied to the chair. She watched blood splatter and didn’t bat an eye.

 

“Tell them what they wanna know!” Jason shouted as he punched. The man stared up at Jason with resolve in his eyes and kept his mouth shut.

 

“This isn’t getting us anywhere,” Trini said from across the room. She walked over to the folding table set up, lined with various weapons, and she picked up a pair of pliers. She walked over to Jason and he stepped back, bloody fists at his side. Trini picked up the man’s hand and put the pliers around his pinky finger. “Wanna tell us now?”

 

“I’m dead if I do anyway,” the man growled.

 

Trini tipped her head side to side, weighing that, then clamped the pliers down and cut off half of his pinky. He screamed. “This way is more painful,” she told him. Then she smirked darkly. “But more fun for me.”

 

“Sadistic bitch,” he spat out.

 

“Hey! Yo! That’s _my_ sadistic bitch,” Kim said from the door.

 

Trini just lifted another of his fingers. “We know someone put out a hit on us already,” she said. “We just wanna know who. How many guys are after us?”

 

The man stared up at her. “More than you can catch and torture.”

 

“See...to me, that’s just a challenge,” Trini ribbed. She closed the pliers over his ring finger. “Who put out the hit?”

 

“I’d tell her,” Kim said, stepping forward slowly. “I’m sure you want to go home to your daughter, Gia. Nine years old?” She shook her head. “Terrible age to lose a father.” She got close and ran her fingers through his sweaty hair. “It’d be a shame,” she yanked his head back by his hair, “if we asked _her_ who’s after us.”

 

“Don’t you fucking touch her,” he hissed out, jerking his head away.

 

“We won’t have to if you tell us,” Trini said, itching to squeeze the pliers again. He didn’t have to know that they’d never hurt a child, a little girl; not on purpose. He needed to see them as cold and calculating as they could be. Typically, they didn’t even do the hurting, but...they both liked doing it so much. It was hard to stop them when it was such an important matter.

 

“I’m already dead,” he said, resigned.

 

Trini threw the pliers across the room and stalked over to Jason. “Take care of him,” she hissed, before walking out the door. She stormed across the warehouse to the stairs and took them up to her and Kim’s office. She was barely through the door when Kim pushed her in and slammed the door shut.

 

“It’s so hot when you do that,” Kim said, pulling Trini close.

 

The anger in Trini dissipated enough to smirk up at her wife. “I know.”

 

Kim took Trini’s hand and pushed it up her own skirt. “Really hot,” she said, as Trini’s hand pressed between her legs.

 

“I love how wet you get for me,” Trini said in admiration, pressing Kim to the closed door.

 

“I know, baby. Now do something about it.”

 

“What my girl wants, my girl gets.”

 

* * *

 

 

Penelope sat across from Josie in a small darkly lit coffee shop, and she was staring at the girl in awe. Josie was talking about her roommate and some antics they’d gotten up to over the years, but Penelope could barely hear her. Josie was beautiful. Her smile was radiant. Penelope was sure she’d never seen a smile like that before. And in the next instant she was asking herself what was wrong with herself. She was getting sappy, and Penelope Hart-Rodriguez/Park _definitely_ didn’t do sappy. Sappy was usually when she hightailed it out. But she didn’t want to leave Josie. She wanted to continue watching her talk for as long as she could. Had Josie cast some kind of spell on her? She must have.

 

Then she realized Josie was quiet and staring at her expectantly. “Sorry?” Penelope asked.

 

“I asked, what was it like growing up with two moms?”

 

Penelope hated that question. Usually, she’d tear someone apart for asking it, but this was Josie. Instead, she shifted in her seat and wrapped her hands around her warm mug of coffee. Her head tilted and she stared directly at Josie. “Not very different than growing up with one mom,” she said. She tried to keep her words calm. “It’s the same as having any other parents,” she went on. Well, if those other parents ran a mob and were training you to take over one day...

 

“I’m sorry, was that rude?” Josie asked, her face ernest.

 

“...no, it’s okay. It’s fair to be curious. I mean, they’re both pretty cool. They’ve taken good care of me. I obviously didn’t have a father, but...I’ve had father figures.” She thought about some of the men in their lives. Jason, a hitter, and her moms’ right hand man. He used to ruffle her hair and ask her how she was, and as she got older he kept his hands to himself and asked the same. Always wanting to know how her life was going, and always listening. He was a good man. Then there was Boomer. Billy Cranston was someone who went back with her Mami to when they were kids, and he was the best explosives expert in both cities. He was different than Jason, different than most, but he and Penelope had good conversations, and he taught her a lot. There were her uncles, Gus Jr and Nico. They were great uncles and she loved them. Other men were around, of course, and some of them were really good, but if she had to choose she’d say she was closest to Jason and Boomer.

 

She realized she’d been quiet for awhile so she cleared her throat. “What about you? You...grew up with your mom?”

 

“Yeah,” Josie nodded. She took a sip of her coffee. “It was just me and her. She traveled a lot for her work, and I’d stay with Hope and her family. Then, um, well something bad happened and,” she smoothed out her skirt. “Hope came to live with me and Mom until we graduated high school.”

 

Penelope nodded. Of course she was curious as to what had happened, but she kept her lips closed. At least, on that. “Are your parents divorced?”

 

Josie looked a little tighter, a little more reserved, and Penelope wondered if she was pressing too much. She had been told not to ask about Josie’s father, after all. But Josie answered, “They were never married. They....don’t get along. I chose to live with her. My sister, Lizzie, chose our father.”

 

“You have a sister?”’

 

“Twins,” she nodded. “Fraternal. We look...nothing alike,” she said with a slight laugh. “Lizzie is beautiful.”

 

“Yeah, but so are you,” Penelope said softly.

 

Josie’s cheeks reddened. “Thank you.”

 

“Really beautiful,” Penelope added. She reached her hand across the table and brushed Josie’s fingers. They fluttered at the touch, and Josie looked down. Penelope watched her and waited, and after a moment Josie gave Penelope her hand. Penelope smiled and squeezed it. “So...are you close to her? Your sister?”

 

“Not anymore,” Josie answered. Her eyes glazed over and she had a frown on her lips. “She...has some issues. It’s really hard to…” Josie tilted her head, as though searching for the right words. “It’s hard to hold her up. I felt like I was disappearing.” Her lips rolled into her mouth and she stopped.

 

Penelope watched her for a bit then squeezed her hand again. “I was almost sold into a child slave ring.”

 

Josie looked at Penelope with wide eyes. “ _What_?”

 

A little smirk spread on Penelope’s lips. “Kidding.” She wasn’t.

 

“Penelope!” Josie gasped. Then she started to laugh, and Penelope joined.

 

“You should have seen your face,” Penelope said, laughing harder.

 

“That’s a terrible joke!” Josie tried to take her hand away, but Penelope fought her on it and tugged her hand across the table to bring it to her lips.

 

“You haven’t heard my mom’s jokes yet.”

 

Josie just shook her head. “You’re terrible.”

 

“No, I’m _amazing_ ,” Penelope corrected.

 

Josie stared at her, contemplating, and licked her lips. “You can kiss me.”

 

“W-what?” Penelope asked, eyes wide.

 

“Not now! I mean...when we say goodnight.”  Suddenly, Josie looked shy again.

 

Penelope grinned. “I can kiss you?”

 

“Only kiss,” Josie said. “I’m still not sleeping with you.”

 

“Well, like I said, I’m amazing,” Penelope said in a low voice.

 

“And you don’t have an ego.”

 

“Maybe a small one.” Penelope shrugged. She didn’t care. She knew what she had to offer.

“Is this how it goes with all the girls?”

 

“All what girls?”

 

“Come on, Penelope. I know there are always girls with you. Probably others that worked for your moms.”

 

A brow raise, Penelope smirked. “You’re a smart one.” She leaned back in her chair. “There are other girls. Have been. But...this? This isn’t how it goes.”

 

“How so?”

 

“I’m not usually thinking about the second date in the middle of the first one,” she answered honestly, and a little surprised.

 

“Is this a date?”

 

“Isn’t it?”

 

“Only if you walk me home,” Josie said.

 

“I happen to be very qualified to walk you home.”

 

“Oh? Did you pass an exam?”

 

“With flying colors.”

 

“You’re ridiculous.”

 

“Mm, but you like it,” Penelope said in observation.

 

“No comment.”

 

* * *

 

 

They stood at Josie’s front stoop staring at one another. Had been for a few minutes since they ended their quiet walk there. A walk of hands brushing, shy smiles, and soft glances.

 

Josie finally looked up at the door to the apartment building and back at Penelope. “I should go in.” It was late after all. They had sat in the cafe long past closing, Penelope having slipped one of the workers a fifty in exchange for their temporary friendship.

 

Penelope felt disappointment crash over her. She wasn’t ready to say goodnight, but she wasn’t going to push Josie either. Instead she nodded. “Okay.”

 

Josie took a step closer to Penelope. “Thank you. I had more fun than I thought I would.”

 

With a head tilt and slight smirk Penelope took a step forward as well. “I’ll take that as a compliment...I think.” And Josie giggled, and Penelope’s heart did A Thing. She tried to sort out just what it was for a moment and didn’t see Josie step closer again.

 

“Goodnight, Penelope.”

 

The sound brought her back to, and she looked up at Josie and stepped closer to her. “Goodnight, Josie.” Josie stepped forward again, and she was inches from Penelope. The two stared at each other for a long time before Penelope kicked her own ass into gear and reached out to set a hand to Josie’s waist. She saw Josie’s smile widen slightly, and her own did as well. She was feeling like a giddy girl, and she couldn’t stop it. She wasn’t sure she wanted to. She pushed the thought away and leaned up to gently press her lips to Josie’s.

 

She heard Josie sigh and started to move her lips against the other girl’s. Josie responded, kissing her back. It was a slow, exploratory kiss. As it naturally deepened, Josie wrapped her arms around Penelope’s neck, and Penelope was sure no girl’s arms around her had ever felt like that. No other girl’s kiss had felt like that one did. She started to get into it, kissed Josie deeper and harder, and at first Josie met every move, but eventually she pulled back.

 

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” Penelope asked.

 

“You will.” Josie grinned. She bit her lip and backed towards the steps that led up to her building. “Bye.”

 

“Bye,” Penelope replied, unable to stop the smile on her lips. She watched Josie go up the stairs, pause to look over her shoulder and wave, and go inside. Penelope stood there a moment before turning to walk towards home.

 

She didn’t stop smiling the whole way.

  


* * *

 

Trini and Kimberly were dressed down in jeans, tee shirts, a leather jacket for Kim and a flannel for Trini, as they walked into a dark bar. It was a disgusting place. Dingy. Old. There were a few old men spread out in it drowning their sorrows. No one looked up at them. No one but a figure sitting in a darker corner of the bar, in a booth. He looked up at them and raised a hand to signal them over. They walked through the bar with heads held high and slid into the booth across from a man in jeans, a black shirt, and a black leather jacket. His dark hair was spiked like some teenage wannabe, and his equally dark eyes were trained on the women in front of him. He pushed two glasses to them then moved a bottle of whisky closer to where they could reach it.

 

Trini rolled her eyes. “We’re not here to drink, Taylor.”

 

Zack Taylor leaned back, throwing an arm across the back of the booth, and stared at her. “I think you’ll want to.”

 

“I already want to,” Kim huffed, pouring herself a generous glass and bringing it to her lips.

 

“We need to know who called the hit,” Trini said, her voice low. She glanced around the bar, but no one seemed to be paying them any attention. That was good.

 

“Already told you I don’t know,” he said.

 

“How do you not know?” Kim shot to him.

 

“Because sometimes we don’t hear these things,” he explained. “We hear someone’s putting cash on a target and we take ‘em out. They contact us after for payment.”

 

“Sounds like a good way to get stiffed,” Trini said dryly.

 

“No one would double cross me,” he smirked darkly. He ran his fingers through his hair, it didn’t move. “Was it not enough I tipped you off?”

 

“No,” Trini answered.

 

“Why?” Kim asked. “Why tip us off? Yeah, you work some odd jobs for us, but you didn’t wanna join the family. You don’t owe us anything.”

 

“You, no. I do got a debt to pay off, though.”

 

“To who?” Trini asked, narrowing her eyes. He met her eyes and they stared each other down for a moment, then he reached out and put both hands around his glass.

 

“When I was a teenager, my mom...she was really sick. She couldn’t work. I did what I could, but there were so many bills and meds were expensive...I met this guy, did some work on the side. Hustling kids, middle-aged guys in suits who hated their lives...easy stuff.” He lifted the glass to his lips and sipped then set it back down. He cleared his throat. “So he hooked me up with some jobs, and suddenly I was makin’ all the money I needed. It was great. Guess I was doin’ a good job, makin’ an impression...I got to meet the boss. He promised me and my mom would never want for money again. She’d get the best care possible. And I didn’t have to pledge myself to him or whatever, I could keep workin’ on the side. He kept his promise. I took some more jobs, some riskier shit, but he kept me away from trouble. Then my mom...she died…” He stared down into his drink. “And he helped me out with whatever I needed. Called me ‘son’. Said ‘We’ll always be here for you, son. Even if you don’t join us.’”

 

“I took off on my own, eventually got into this line of work, took care of myself...but I’d still check in with him sometimes. And he’d always say, ‘Good to see you, son’ and...and when I heard he died, I swore I’d repay him one day.” He lifted his head and looked directly at Trini, who had a frown on her lips, her mind going a mile a minute. “Your dad was a good man,” he said to Trini. “It’s why I work some jobs for you. And it’s why, when I heard someone was out for you, I knew I had to tell you.”

 

He leaned back, drained his glass, and set it down with a thud. He went quiet, eyes falling to the table. Trini was still glaring at him, and Kim was watching her wife. She knew Trini was processing. She knew to let her.

 

After awhile, Trini picked up Kim’s glass and took a large gulp. Kim could almost see the burn slide through Trini’s body as she looked at him again.

 

“Sweet story, Taylor. But my dad was far from a good man.”

 

“He was to me,” the man replied.

 

“If you owe him so much why can’t you figure out who put out the hit?”

 

“I’ve been tryin’. Whoever it is wants to make sure no one knows. But they want you dead bad. Price tag is highest I’ve ever heard of.”

 

Trini and Kim glanced at each other, brief fear on both of their faces, but it faded just as fast. Kim looked at him. “If you do hear anything-”

 

“You’ll hear from me right away,” he nodded.

 

“Good,” Kim replied. She finished off her glass and got to her feet. She held her hand out for her wife, who took it and got up as well. “See ya around, Taylor.”

 

Trini paused as Kim started to walk away, and Kim stopped and looked back. Trini frowned, thinking, then asked, “You’re about our age…” It was a statement more than a question. He nodded. “So you were pretty young when you started killin’ for cash.”

 

“Guess so,” he shrugged.

 

“Damn,” she said softly. She shook her head and turned to follow Kim, who took Trini’s hand and walked to the door. Their bodyguards were on the other side of it waiting to take them home. Trini just walked with Kim, lost in her thoughts.

 

“You okay?” Kim whispered, pulling the door open and blinding them both by sunlight.

 

“m’fine,” Trini insisted. She wasn’t.

 

* * *

 

 

Trini was in the bedroom that she shared with her wife, and she was pulling a yellow and black flannel on over her white tank top. She ran her fingers through her hair to settle it outside of the shirt and she stared into the mirror. She knew she was young when she started doing what she did, younger even when she experienced death and destruction.  She’d been around it her whole life, training even longer it felt. So why did it bother her that Zack Taylor started killing people likely before he could legally drink? She wasn’t sure, but it did. And the fact that her dad had done so much for Taylor that she didn’t know about. She wasn’t surprised. Not really. He did things like that. Found certain people along the way that he took in, watched over, protected. She had to learn it from somewhere, after all.

 

“Honey?” Kim stepped into the bedroom. “Whatcha doing?” She leaned against the door frame and stared at her wife.

 

“Goin’ out,” Trini replied. She sat on the bed and pulled on her yellow Pumas.

 

“Where?”

 

“Out.”

 

“No.”

 

“No?” Trini looked up, fiery questioning in her eyes.

 

“We have people to do or get anything we could possibly need for us.” Kim walked into the room and crossed her arms. “We don’t need to leave the house right now.” As it was, the house was more heavily guarded than usual. Enough people knew where they lived that any threat could come after them there. They both knew the guards had already taken a few assasins out, and they only expected there to be more. When faced with the subject of moving out to a more hidden location, Trini had refused. She was stubborn in that way.

 

“I need to clear my head,” Trini argued, standing up. She tried to seem taller than her wife, but it never worked.

 

“No.”

 

“Don’t tell me no,” Trini snapped.

 

“You’ve been sneaking off on your own recently and it’s stupid!” Kim’s arms fell. “Yeah, I know about that. Don’t look so surprised.”

 

“I don’t need anyone’s _permission_ to go anywhere. These are my cities.”

 

“ _Our_ cities,” Kim said. “Where who knows how many people are out there trying to kill us.” Her voice was harsh but at normal volume. Trini knew that was worse, almost, than Kim yelling. She didn’t move. “I don’t like it either, but I’ll like it a lot less if someone gets you.”

 

“No one will get me,” Trini scoffed, looking away.

 

“You’re not invincible.” Kim grabbed Trini’s elbow to make her look at her, and Trini did. “It’s you and me in this world, Trin. You and me. That’s how it’s gonna be til we’re old and making Pen change our diapers.”

 

That made Trini’s lips curl up at the corners. She sighed and met her wife’s eyes. “I feel like a hamster.”

 

“Well, little hamster, why don’t I give you something to nibble on and keep you busy?” Kim chuckled as she stepped closer to Trini.

 

Trini smiled softly. “Maybe it should be the other way around.”

 

“Nah, hamsters do the nibbling.” Kim held each side of the flannel shirt in her hands and pulled Trini closer to her body.

 

“So. Your solution to being cooped up here is sex? Just...gettin’ it on night and day?”

 

“We practically do anyway,” Kim shrugged. She leaned down and let their noses brush. “I’ll do anything to keep you alive.”

 

Sighing, Trini closed her eyes. “I’m not goin’ anywhere, Princess.”

 

“Good.” Kim closed the space between their lips and kissed her while pushing off her flannel

 

Trini wore Kim out, and when the other woman had fallen asleep she got up and quietly got dressed in the dark. She pulled her black hat over her head and looked at her wife in the bed, and she felt a pang of guilt hit her. She knew Kim wanted her to stay put, but Trini needed to get out. So she did. She crept out of the bedroom, out the back door past their guards, and disappeared into the night.

 

When Kim woke up from the chill of laying naked on top of the sheets, she reached for Trini only to discover she wasn’t there. Kim frowned and sat up to turn on the lamp. She looked around the room, but no one else was there. The bathroom door was open and the room dark. She got up and grabbed her robe to pull it on, then she wandered through the house.

 

“Trini?” She called out. Every room was dark. And empty. Kim looked all over the large house, but her wife was nowhere to be found. Anger set it. She went back to their room to get her phone and tried calling Trini, but she got sent to voicemail every time she called. She sent a text telling Trini to come home, but saw it left on read. She sat down on the edge of the bed with a huff. She wasn’t about to go wandering around the city looking for Trini. She swiped a name on her phone and held it to her ear. It rang a few times before someone answered.

 

“What?”

 

Penelope sounded grumpy and angry, and Kim supposed it was only fair. She must have been sleeping. But Kim was too worried to care much about it. “Have you heard from your Mami?”

 

“No.”

 

“Dammit,” she hissed under her breath. “Okay,” she said normally. “If you do will you call me?”

 

“Is something wrong?” Suddenly, Penelope sounded alert and worried.

 

“What? No. She, uh, went for one of her late night runs and...and she’s just been gone for awhile.”

 

“Oh. So...should I worry?”

 

“No, baby,” Kim assured. “She’ll be home soon. Everything is fine. Go back to sleep.”

 

“Okay…” She sounded unsure. “Night, Mom.”

 

“Night, Pen,” Kim said with a small smile. Her daughter always brought one to her lips. She ended the call and walked back out to the living room. She turned on the light and sat on the couch. She’d just have to wait.

 

An hour later, she heard the back door open. A moment after that she heard her wife cuss softly before coming into the room. Kim turned to look at her, and Trini at least had the decency to look apologetic.

 

“Glad you’re back,” Kim said, voice flat.

 

“I just needed to get out,” Trini said. She walked around and stood in front of the couch. “I’m carryin’ so...I was fine.”

 

Kim just glared at her. “Luckily.”

 

“Come on, Princess,” Trini said sweetly. “It was just a little walk. No one saw me.”

 

“Don’t _‘Princess’_ me!” Kim jumped to her feet. “You might not have been okay! You didn’t know you would be! You said you’d stay in and you didn’t!”

 

“You know staying still isn’t-”

 

“If _I_ can do it, you sure as fuck can.”

 

“Kimberly! I’m fine!”

 

Kim shook her head and looked away. She took a deep breath. “...we should tell Penelope.”

 

“That I went out?”

 

“No. About the hit. She should know.”

 

“We agreed that we can handle this without her knowing,” Trini argued.

 

“Yeah, but...if something does happen...she’s gonna be pissed that we didn’t warn her.”

 

“Nothing’s gonna happen! Look at who we are!”

 

“Stop saying nothing’s going to happen! Something could! I could lose you! Or...you could lose me! Or Pen could lose both of us! She deserves to know!”

 

Trini stared at her wife quietly for a bit before her features calmed and she sighed. “Let’s discuss it in the morning, okay?”

 

“You just want to get out of talking about it.”

 

“No, I think we’re both tired and angry and if we’re talkin’ about Pen, we gotta not be.”

 

Kim thought about that and nodded. “Fine. We’ll talk about it in the morning.” She walked off towards the bedroom. “Enjoy the couch tonight, _dear_.”

 

They didn’t talk about it in the morning. They were too busy having make up sex.

 

* * *

 

 

It had been a month since Penelope’s coffee date with Josie, and it had been a very interesting month. They had more coffee dates, and when they worked together it was all teasing and laughter and shy smiles. Something about Josie made Penelope’s act fall and she was truly herself. Sure, it still came up at times. When they talked and the subject got too close to the things Penelope didn’t want to talk about, or when Penelope’s ego came out and she had to play the bravado. But Josie didn’t seem to mind it. She would roll her eyes, or tell Penelope off for it. Penelope had truly never had someone like Josie in her life before, and she was loving every minute of it.

 

The two were locking up one night, and after a night full of teasing each other and laughter and heavy flirting, they had fallen silent. Penelope locked the door and Josie stood at her side. Penelope put the keys in her purse and turned to the other girl. Josie looked beautiful under the glow of a nearby streetlight, and Penelope had the sudden urge to kiss her. Truthfully, she’d been feeling it all night, but that moment she wanted to actually do it. So she did.

 

She stepped forward and took Josie’s cheek in her hand and leaned up to kiss her. Josie kissed her back, placing a hand on her hip, and it was a soft and slow kiss. As they gently explored each other’s mouths, Josie pulled Penelope closer. Penelope turned Josie and pressed her back to the door. The kiss deepened and both girls sighed. They kissed until they couldn’t kiss anymore, and when they pulled apart they were both breathless. Their foreheads rested together and their chests rose and fell rapidly. Penelope stroked Josie’s soft cheek, a small smile on her own lips, and she let herself enjoy the moment.

 

“Walk me home?” Josie whispered, breaking through.

 

“Of course,” Penelope murmured. She kept close for another moment before pulling back and taking Josie’s hand in hers. They started to walk, smiles on their lips, both watching the ground, and Penelope tried not to focus on the pounding of her heart. It was a thing that her heart did around Josie all the time.

 

Penelope had purposefully not mentioned anything to her moms. She didn’t want to hear their endless teasing, and she knew they’d also try to talk her out of it. Tell her that Josie was too innocent, that she’d never understand their family, but Penelope didn’t care. She was on a high, a high named Josie Forbes.

 

“What are you thinking?” Josie asked after a couple of blocks.

 

“Ohhh, uh-uh, I don’t do that. Tell people what I’m thinking,” Penelope said with a wrinkled nose.

 

“Why not?”

 

“They could hold it against me. Or worse, actually know what I’m thinking.”

 

“I wouldn’t hold it against you.” And Josie sounded so kind and sincere that it had Penelope reconsider. Josie had quickly hacked through some of Penelope’s walls, but some remained intact, and that’s the way it needed to be. Some walls couldn’t be let down, not for anyone. Especially when it came to her family.

 

She stared forward for a moment, listened to their feet on the sidewalk, and finally cleared her throat. “I was thinking...how much fun the last few weeks have been,” she admitted. She kept her eyes forward, not wanting to see Josie’s reaction. But then a moment later Josie was pulling Penelope’s hand close to her chest and Penelope had to look over. Josie was beaming.

 

“I think so, too,” she said.

 

And Penelope grinned. “Good to know.” They walked on. Josie kept hold of Penelope’s hand in both of hers, and Penelope couldn’t wipe the small smile from her lips.

 

“You’re cute,” Josie commented after a bit.

 

“Sorry?”

 

“You come off as this...I don’t know, badass bitch, but...you’re cute.”

 

“Oh no, JoJo, if you’re gonna start callin’ me cute then we can’t do this anymore.” Penelope’s voice was teasing as she tried to tug her hand away. Josie kept an impressively strong hold on it.

 

“Oh? And what’s ‘this’?”

 

“Wha- … I- … it’s- ....” Penelope couldn’t get a single thought out.

 

“Mmhmm,” Josie hummed before chuckling. “Are we dating?”

 

“We’ve...been on dates,” Penelope confirmed.

 

“Which would mean, usually, that we’re dating.”

 

“I guess it would.”

 

“Are we dating exclusively?”

 

The conversation had suddenly gotten really serious, and Penelope didn’t know what to say. She didn’t usually date exclusively. It was hard to in her lifestyle. But she didn’t exactly want to date any other girls when she had Josie. _Oh_. Well, that meant something. She gulped. “I don’t...want you to date anyone else,” she said slowly.

 

“Mm...I don’t want _you_ to date anyone else.”

 

“Okay,” Penelope answered without thinking. And that was a shock. That she had given in so easily, that she was okay with it. All around shocker. But...if she said no, she might lose her chance with Josie, and she didn’t want that.

 

“Really?”

 

“Uh...yeah. But...it’s new for me. So…”

 

“I’ll go easy on you,” Josie said, bringing Penelope’s hand up to kiss the back of it. They stopped in front of Josie’s apartment, and Penelope didn’t know when they had gotten there. She blinked and looked over at Josie. Josie was beaming. It made Penelope smile.

 

“Thank you,” she said.

 

Josie chewed her lip and glanced at the door then looked back at Penelope. “Do you wanna come up? Hope’s at her boyfriend’s place tonight.”

 

“Oh.” Penelope did want to, but she was surprised that she was being invited. She realized she was quiet for too long so she nodded. “Yeah.”

 

“Great.” Josie smiled and took Penelope’s hand to lead her into the building and up two floors to her apartment. She let them in and closed and locked the door behind them. “This city scares me sometimes,” she admitted.

 

“You don’t have to be scared with me here,” Penelope answered honestly, but played it off jokingly.

 

“Oh really?”

 

“Really. I’ll protect you.”

 

“That’s...really cute,” Josie laughed.

 

Penelope frowned. “No...it’s....it’s not cute.”

 

“Yes, it is. Accept it.”

 

“No,” she said, brow raising. “You can’t tell me what to do.”

 

“Okay, okay,” Josie relented. “Then I’ll just think to myself about how cute you are.”

 

“Think quietly.”

 

Josie chuckled and shook her head. “Do you want something to drink?”

 

“Sure, anything,” Penelope nodded. “Can I use your bathroom?”

 

“Yeah, it’s the second door on the left.”

 

“Thanks.” Penelope walked down to the bathroom and closed herself in. She put her purse on the counter and reached behind her back for her gun, the one her moms had given her when she turned sixteen, and deposited it into her purse. Then she lifted her foot to the sink and took the knife off of her ankle and put that in the purse as well. Even if things didn’t go how she hoped they would, she didn’t want anything to happen while they hung out. Safety first. And protecting her identity.

 

To cover herself, she flushed the toilet and washed her hands, then she walked back to the living room. She set her purse on the table by the door and wandered through the room. It was cozy. A big, fluffy couch and armchair. Pictures on the walls of Josie and who she assumed was Hope in the stages of their friendship. They seemed to start as young teenagers and grow. The pictures made Penelope smile.

 

“We met when we were fourteen,” Josie said, coming up behind Penelope and holding out a drink. Penelope took it. “I had the biggest crush on her.” The girl laughed. “But it faded, and we became really good friends.”

 

“Well clearly you don’t have a type,” Penelope said.

 

“No?”

 

“No, I’m hotter than her.” Penelope smirked and turned to Josie, and Josie just shook her head.

 

“One day, that ego of yours is going to get you into big trouble,” Josie said, stepping closer.

 

“Oh, it has. You don’t want to see what happens when you talk back to my Mami.”

 

Josie tilted her head and smiled softly. “You don’t talk about them a lot.”

 

Penelope quietly took a sip of the drink in her hand, it was something alcoholic, and she was glad. “A lot of people don’t want to hear about them.”

 

“I do.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because I want to know about you, and they’re a part of you. A big part from what I can tell.”

 

With guarded and hesitant eyes, Penelope looked up at Josie. The girl was staring at her with such honesty that it jolted Penelope. “It’s hard to talk about them...but I can work on it.”

 

“Don’t force it,” Josie said simply. “I mean, we’ve only been dating for a month so I don’t expect your life story.”

 

“Thank you,” Penelope said softly. She leaned forward and kissed Josie, and Josie kissed her back.

 

“Besides,” Josie said, leading Penelope over to the couch to sit down. “My family isn’t easy to talk about either.”

 

“I appreciate you for what you have told me.”

 

“Turns out you’re really easy to talk to.”

 

“Am I?”

 

“Yeah,” Josie chuckled. She sipped her own drink.

“You are, too,” Penelope said after a moment.

 

“I try.” Josie smiled at her, and Penelope smiled back. “Want to sit down?” Josie walked over to the couch and sat, and Penelope followed and sat beside her. She left a little bit of room between them. Just a bit.

 

“So...does Hope stay with her boyfriend a lot?” Penelope asked.

 

“Yeah, they’re pretty gross together. He’s not bad though. I mean, Roman used to have some problems, but he seems good now,” Josie explained.

 

“Well, that’s good,” Penelope nodded. She really didn’t care about Hope’s stupid boyfriend, but she was trying to make conversation. “Have you ever had a boyfriend?” The words came out before she really thought about it, and she hoped they wouldn’t offend the other girl.

 

“Is that your way of asking me about my sexuality?” Josie asked.

 

“I...guess?”

 

“No, I haven’t had a boyfriend. But I consider myself pansexual, so in theory I could.”

 

“Just haven’t met one worth dating?”

 

“I…” Josie paused, then shrugged. “I prefer girls, I guess.”

 

“Me too,” Penelope agreed. “Girls are very pretty.”

 

Josie laughed. “Yes, they are. What about you?”

 

“Resident Lesbian Bitch,” Penelope said.

 

“I don’t think you’re a bitch. I mean, maybe at first, but getting to know you...you’re not.”

 

“You’re giving me too much credit.”

 

“That’s my opinion. You don’t have to like it,” Josie said, before sipping her drink.

 

“Well...thank you.” Penelope felt a little awkward at the praise and drank from her own glass. They fell into silence and it went on so long that it started to feel awkward, and Penelope hated awkward, so she spoke up. “Are you a virgin?”

 

“Virginity is a social construct.”

 

“ _Fine_. Have you had sex with any of those pretty girls?”

 

Josie lifted her chin. “Yes.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“What about you?”

 

Penelope laughed. “Oh, I’ve had a lot of sex. With a lot of girls.” She didn’t mean to brag...well, okay, she did.

 

“Is that supposed to impress me?” Josie asked, sounding very unimpressed.

 

“No. I was just telling you.”

 

“Why are we talking about sex? I’m still not going to sleep with you.”

 

“Yet,” Penelope added, playfully.

 

“Maybe ever, with that ego,” Josie replied.

 

Penelope finished off her drink and placed the glass on the coffee table before scooting closer to Josie and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “I was joking.”

 

“Hmm.” Josie stared forward, drinking her drink. When she finished, Penelope took the glass and set it beside her own. Josie turned to look at her. “You’re sure of yourself, aren’t you?”

 

“Isn’t it an admirable quality?” Penelope played with the ends of Josie’s hair.

 

“It’s a little obnoxious, actually.” Josie looked at Penelope, and Penelope stared back with a little smile on her lips.

 

“So then...you don’t want to kiss me right now?”

 

Josie’s eyes dropped to Penelope’s lips and stayed there long enough for Penelope to know she was right. Josie looked up again and Penelope leaned in and kissed her. Josie set a hand to Penelope’s cheek and kissed her back, and Penelope threaded her hand through Josie’s hair and moved it up to hold the back of her head. They kissed deeply for awhile, took a short break of staring into one another’s eyes, then kissed again. They soon ended up down across the couch with Penelope on top of Josie. Penelope’s hand slid up and down Josie’s hip and waist as they kissed and it started to drift up her arm and her shoulder, then down her breastbone. That’s when Josie’s hand came up and caught Penelope’s to pull it away.

 

Penelope broke the kiss and leaned up, staring down at Josie. “What?”

 

“No groping.”

 

“None?” Penelope panted.

 

“...Pen.”

 

“Okay, okay,” Penelope nodded. “I can do just kissing.”

“Can you?” Josie asked, brow raised.

 

“Yes. I’m not a heathen.” Okay, she was a heathen, but Josie didn’t need to know that. Penelope leaned down and brushed her lips to Josie’s. “Do you want me to keep kissing you?”

 

Josie stared up at her then wrapped her arm around Penelope’s neck and kissed her.

 

They made out on the couch for awhile, but eventually broke apart and got some water. Penelope didn’t stop staring at Josie the whole time. She wanted her. Badly. Having to wait, she hoped it was a matter of waiting, was incredibly hard. But she could do it. She was sure she could.

 

“You’re staring,” Josie said.

 

“You’re really pretty,” Penelope answered.

 

“That’s a good line.”

 

“It’s not a line, Jo. I mean it.” And Penelope stared with such an honesty that Josie smiled and moved closer. She pecked Penelope’s lips lightly.

 

“Thank you. You’re...quite gorgeous yourself.”

 

“Mm, gorgeous?” Penelope grinned.

 

“Don’t fish.”

 

“Okay. No fishing. Mm, lots of don’ts tonight. Where are the dos?”

 

Josie set her glass down and held out her hand. “Do come and cuddle me tonight.”

 

“Cuddle?”

 

“It’s when you lay down with someone real close and relax.”

 

“I know what cuddling is,” Penelope said with an eyeroll. “I just...don’t usually…”

 

“Right. Not a cuddler. Well, it was an offer.”

 

“No! Wait. I mean, I don’t usually, but...I’d like to. Tonight.” Penelope said, setting her own water down.

 

Josie grinned and took Penelope’s hand. “Okay. Come on.” She pulled Penelope through the apartment back to her bedroom and closed the door. “Want me to lend you something comfy to sleep in?”

 

“Uhh, sure,” Penelope nodded. Josie went to her closet and pulled out a pair of pajama pants and a tee shirt and handed them to Penelope. Penelope left the room to go to the bathroom and change, and when she came back she just stood inside the room. Josie looked at her.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“Look at me,” Penelope said. She looked down at herself. The shirt was big on her, and the pants went past her feet. “I’m not that tiny.”

 

“You’re kinda tiny,” Josie replied, moving closer. She had changed into a similar outfit, but on her it was cute.

 

“Don’t call me tiny,” Penelope pouted.

 

“Awww.” Josie wrapped her arms around Penelope. “A gorgeous tiny.”

 

“That’s...a little better,” Penelope said. She nuzzled into Josie’s neck.

 

“Let’s go to bed, okay?”

 

“Okay,” Penelope said with a nod. She followed Josie to the bed and crawled in on the opposite side as Josie. She lay down on her back a bit awkwardly.

 

“Big spoon or little spoon?” Josie asked beside her.

 

Penelope scoffed. “Big spoon,” she said. She wouldn’t admit that the idea of Josie’s arms around her was kinda nice. But no. No, she was no little spoon.

 

“Okay. Scoot closer.” Josie lay on her side with her back to Penelope, and Penelope slowly moved forward and wrapped her arm around Josie. She felt weird. She was honest when she said she didn’t do it. But...it wasn’t all bad. Josie’s warmth against her front was...a little soothing. It took a few minutes, but she relaxed against Josie and Josie relaxed back against Penelope. Penelope smiled softly, glad Josie couldn’t see. “Goodnight,” Josie said softly.

 

“Goodnight,” Penelope replied. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh. Okay, yeah, it wasn’t so bad. At least, when it was with Josie.

 

Oh, she was so screwed wasn’t she?

 

* * *

 

 

Trini let herself into Billy “Boomer”’s studio and crossed it to where he was bent over a table fiddling with wires. She plopped down in the chair next to him, backwards, and looked over his work. “Sup, B?”

 

“What’s up, T?” He held his hand out and they did a complicated handshake, then laughed. He went back to what he was doing. “Haven’t seen much of you recently.”

 

“Wife has me locked down,” she grumbled.

 

“If what I hear is true then it’s good she does,” he said.

 

“I thought you were my boy?”

 

“I am, but I’d like you to stay alive, too.”

 

She rolled her eyes and adjusted the snapback on her head that read PUSSY, WEED & MONEY. “Whatcha workin’ on?”

 

“Side job for Ty.”

 

“What’s that idiot up to?”

 

“I didn’t ask. I assumed you or Kim gave him a job,” Billy said.

 

“Kim must’ve. I try not to give him any jobs on his own.”

 

“He’s not that bad,” Billy argued, eyes not lifting from his work.

 

“You have too much faith in people, B.”

 

“What’s wrong with that?”

 

“In our life? Everything.”

 

He shrugged. “I just make the firepower.”

 

“The firepower that kills people,” Trini reminded him.

 

“If I don’t think about that aspect it makes my job easier.”

 

Trini chuckled and clapped him on the back. “This is why you’re my favorite, Boomer.”

 

“Tell me what’s going on with the hit,” Billy said after a moment.

 

“We still don’t know anything,” Trini sighed. “But we’re about to hit up our favorite Detective Saltzman with an offer he can’t refuse.” Her lips twisted at her own joke.

 

“He isn’t very cooperative.”

 

“He will be this time.”

 

“Why?”

 

“We’ve got his kid working for us,” Trini answered. She knew she could trust Billy, and that’s why she loved him even more.

 

“Really? Doing what?”

 

“At the restaurant,” Trini clarified. “And Penelope started to befriend her, but...I think there will be a complication there.”

 

“Did Penelope have sex with her?”

 

“Not sure, but she acts weird around this girl. Like...lovesick weird.”

 

Finally, Boomer brought his head up and stared at Trini. “Not Penelope.”

 

“Yup.”

 

“But...she never gets that.”

 

“I think she has.”

 

“What are you going to do about it?”

 

“Nothing. She’s probably just playin’ some long game with the girl.”

 

“That’s what I thought.” He got back to his work. “You should talk to her. Before she finds out.”

 

“But then it’ll complicate things,” Trini mused. “If we don’t tell her...we can just let everything follow the plan.” She didn’t like lying to her daughter, but the plan was important. It was their lives. Surely, Pen would understand that. Yeah. She’d understand. “Okay, good talk, B.” Trini got to her feet. “Be careful giving that thing to Ty. I don’t trust him.”

 

“He’s fine,” Billy said. “Go talk to your daughter.”

 

Trini bit her lip and turned and walked out. She knew Billy was right, on some level she knew that, but she also knew she couldn’t let anything deter their plan. Penelope would understand. In time.

 

\--

 

“I still can’t believe you have a cat and I’m only finding out about it now.” Josie sat on Penelope’s bed, petting said cat.

 

Penelope stood in front of the bed with crossed arms and she lifted a shoulder. “Not everyone deserves to know about Sir Raddington.”

 

Josie snorted. “Sir Raddington?” Then she covered her mouth. “I mean, it’s a cute name.”

 

“Are you mocking his name?” Penelope raised a brow. “We don’t accept that here.”

 

“What if I am? What will you do?” Josie looked up with the utmost look of innocence. Penelope shook her head, her lips starting to curl up.

 

“This.” And she threw herself at Josie, knocking her over, and started to tickle her. Josie yelped and laughed and squirmed. Penelope started to laugh, too. Sir Raddington ran.

 

“Okay! Okay! I’m sorry!” Josie shouted out, trying to hold Penelope back.

 

“Say it’s an awesome name.”

 

“I can’t!”

 

“Say it!”

 

“It’s an awesome name!”

 

“That’s what I thought.” Penelope stilled, but she was still laughing. She looked at Josie, hair all out of place, cheeks red, panting for breath, and she sighed.

 

“What?” Josie looked up at Penelope hovering over her.

 

“Knowing you these past couple months has...made me happy.”

 

“You make me happy, too,” Josie said. She reached for Penelope to pull her down against herself. “That’s what this is all about.”

 

“You know this is new to me.”

 

“Am I not an adequate teacher?”

 

“Oh, you’re a great teacher,” Penelope assured. “But you know, I could teach you a few things, too.”

 

“Like what?”

 

“Liiiike...this,” and Penelope kissed her. Josie grinned into the kiss and returned it.

 

“I like that lesson,” Josie said when Penelope pulled back a little.

 

“I have more like it.”

 

“Show me?”

 

And Josie looked at Penelope in such a way that Penelope’s heart skipped a beat. “Are we talking about the same thing?”

 

Josie ran her fingers up Penelope’s back slowly. “Show me.”

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“Penelope,” Josie said, rolling her eyes. “Yes, I’m ready.”

 

Penelope jumped up and closed her door to keep the cat out and she turned back to look at Josie. Her beautiful girlfriend. _She_ had a girlfriend. If only her parents knew. Penelope shook her moms out of her head and stepped back to the bed. Josie sat up and slowly took her top off. Penelope almost tripped over her own feet as she watched. Already she was sure that Josie was the most beautiful woman she’d been with.

 

She watched Josie toss her shirt aside and crawled up on the bed. The two just stared at each other for a beat, then Josie leaned forward and kissed Penelope. Penelope kissed her back and gently pushed her onto her back. Her hands were all over Josie’s newly revealed skin. It felt so soft under her touch, and she praised the existence of girls all over again.

 

Then Josie was tugging Penelope’s shirt off, and Penelope helped her get it out of the way. Penelope stared down at Josie, breathless with red lips from kissing, and she shook her head. “You’re beautiful, JoJo.”

 

“I love when you call me that,” Josie whispered. She pulled Penelope back to her and kissed her. Penelope pressed against Josie as they kissed and explored each other’s skin. Then Josie was fiddling with the clasp of Penelope’s bra, and Penelope reached behind herself to help take it off. When she did, Josie gaped at her. It made her feel good, better than any other girl staring at her tits.

 

“Take a picture,” Penelope teased.

 

“Can I?”

 

“Shut up,” Penelope laughed and pointed to Josie. “Your turn.”

 

“Okay.” Josie sat up and easily took her bra off. It was Penelope’s turn to stare. “Now who needs to take a picture?”

 

“Off,” Penelope whispered thickly. “Everything. Off.”

 

“Impatient much?” Josie asked, but leaned back to undo her jeans and push them down. Penelope helped get them off her long legs and stared as Josie wiggled out of her panties. Then Josie was completely naked, and Penelope couldn’t function. “Pen?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“One of us isn’t naked here.”

 

“Oh…” She was still in a daze, staring at the woman in front of her. Then it sunk in. “Oh! Right...okay…” And she leaned up on her knees to undo her black slacks and drop them. She pushed her panties down, too, then shifted to get both items off of her. Before she could even drop them off the bed, Josie had her pinned on her back. “I guess you are ready,” Penelope said.

 

“So ready,” Josie said, her voice desperate. “You’re hot.”

 

“I know.”

 

“Sssh,” Josie hushed. She pressed her body to Penelope’s and leaned down to kiss and nip at her neck. Penelope’s eyes closed and she tried to breathe as the naked girl on top of her left what were sure to be marks all over her neck. Somewhere in there, one of them started rocking against the other, and soon they were both panting. Josie moved her lips down to Penelope’s breasts and she kissed and nipped at them softly before sucking one of her nipples into her mouth. Penelope moaned, a more desperate moan than she’d ever heard come from her own lips. But Josie was doing delightful things to her body. After a bit, Josie switched to the other breast to give it the same attention, and Penelope wondered to herself if she could come like that.

 

“JoJo,” she breathed out. “I need you.”

 

“Do you?” Josie asked innocently. Her hand crept down Penelope’s stomach while she continued her ministrations.

 

“You know I do.”

 

Josie’s hand slid against Penelope’s thigh and teased it. “I know,” she said. “But you haven’t asked nicely.”

 

Penelope could hardly think much less _ask nicely_. She whined and squeezed her eyes shut. “Josiiie.”

 

Josie kissed her way back up Penelope’s chest and to her jaw. “I’m teaching you to be a nice girl, and nice girl’s ask.”

 

Not expecting such dominance from Josie, Penelope was still trying to let her thoughts catch up. She blinked her eyes and glanced down at Josie. Josie was looking up at her with determination on her face. Penelope sighed. She never had to tell anyone about this. “Please,” she murmured, reluctantly.

 

“Please...what?” Josie let the knuckles of her hand brush between Penelope’s legs, and Penelope jumped.

 

“Please fuck me,” Penelope gave in, her words harsh from her annoyance at having to utter them.

 

Josie smiled. “That’s better, baby.” She ran her fingers through Penelope’s folds and Penelope hissed. “Good girl.” Penelope was oddly satisfied by those words, and she tried not to think about it. Instead she relaxed and enjoyed the feel of Josie running her fingers through her. Josie briefly brushed Penelope’s clit, and Penelope let out a soft cry.

 

“Oh god, Josie. Please.”

 

“Okay.” Josie slowly slid two fingers into Penelope and waited a moment for her to adjust, then she started moving them slowly.

 

“Mm, yes,” Penelope sighed.

 

“Such a good girl,” Josie murmured before kissing Penelope. They kissed deeply and Josie sped her fingers up. Penelope moaned into the kiss and grabbed onto Josie. The kiss got sloppy, and Penelope eventually lay her head back and enjoyed the sensations. Josie moved her thumb to Penelope’s clit to circle it, slowly at first then faster, and Penelope cried out. Josie smirked.

 

“Josie,” Penelope gasped.

 

Josie continued, and watched Penelope writhe beneath her. After awhile, Penelope felt herself getting close. She hummed and pulled Josie down for another sloppy kiss until her orgasm crashed over her. She cried out Josie’s name and gasped as Josie helped her ride it out. When her body stilled, Penelope just lay there.

 

“Wow,” she whispered. She could admit easily that it was the best orgasm she’d ever had.

 

“It was okay?” Suddenly, Josie sounded shy. Penelope opened her eyes and looked at the girl and shook her head.

 

“Okay? It was...amazing,” she said. “Come here…” She pulled Josie down and kissed her deeply, wrapping her arms tightly around her neck.

 

As the kiss continued, Penelope managed to flip them and settle against Josie’s body. She was suddenly filled with the urge to pay Josie back, to show Josie what she had seen, and she pulled from the kiss to move down Josie’s body. She stopped at her boobs to give them due appreciation before continuing down. She peppered kisses all down Josie’s skin, and eventually reached her waist. She kissed across it, then down her hip and thigh. She heard Josie’s breath catch and she smirked into her skin. “Ask nicely,” she murmured.

 

“Just do it,” Josie groaned.

 

“That’s not how we get what we want,” Penelope said chastisingly.

 

“Pen!”

 

“What, you think you can make it so hard for me and I’ll go easy on you? Uh uh, you have to prove to me you want it.”

 

“I want it. I really want it.”

 

“Is that right?” Penelope purred.

 

“You know I do.”

 

Penelope sucked a mark into Josie’s thigh and looked up at her with a predatory smirk. “Tell me.”

 

“Penelope, I want it.”

 

“You want...what?”

 

“I want you to go down on me!”

 

With a satisfied grin, she pushed Josie’s thighs apart and leaned down to lick a strip up her. Josie moaned, her hips jerking, but Penelope pushed them down and did it again. Already she was addicted to Josie’s taste. She dove back in, licking and sucking, and she moaned. Which caused Josie to moan. She loved that sound. She pressed her tongue into Josie and moved it in and out for a bit, before returning to her licking. Then she closed her lips over Josie’s clit and she sucked, and Josie cried out louder. Josie’s hands locked in Penelope’s hair tightly, and Penelope had never been in a better position in her life. As she worked her mouth, she slid two fingers into Josie and moved them quickly. Josie was moaning her name, and it only encouraged Penelope to work harder.  Before long, Josie’s thighs were tightening against Penelope’s head, and she was whining harder. Penelope smirked against her and added another finger before sucking hard on her clit. In the next moment, Josie came, and it was beautiful. Penelope looked up and watched Josie’s face, and her heart did that Thing. A common occurrence around Josie, but always shocking. She slowed her fingers and pulled them away, leaning back to wipe her face. She still watched Josie, who lay there with her eyes closed as she tried to catch her breath. She was stunning.

 

Penelope crawled back up Josie’s body and kissed her softly. It took a moment, but Josie kissed her back. Penelope rested her head on her hand and stared down at the other girl. “Worth the wait?” Her voice was scratchy.

 

“Oh yes,” Josie said, nodding. “Very worth it.”

 

“Good,” Penelope said, a smile on her lips. Josie looked at her and smiled. They lay there, staring at one another with dopey smiles for awhile, before there was a loud crash against the door and the most angry sound of a crying cat. Penelope’s eyes widened. “Oh. I should mention, he hates being shut out.” A black paw shoved itself under the door as the crying continued.

 

“Oh god! Let him in!”

 

“We’re naked!”

 

“He doesn’t care! Listen to him!” Josie sat up and started to get off the bed.

 

“I’ll let him in, but after we get dressed.”

 

* * *

 

 

A couple of days after visiting Billy, Trini walked out to her large black SUV with two guards at her sides. They ushered her into the driver’s seat -- she liked driving, and refused to always let one of her men do it -- and she turned to watch another guard, a young man named Kaleb, get into the seat beside her. He pulled the door shut and gave her a small smirk.

 

“How’s it goin’, Mrs. T?”

 

“Be a lot better when we’re on the road,” she answered honestly. Cruising down the highway in her car or on her bike is when she got the most time to think and clear her head. She loved it. “Buckle in.” Kaleb started to pull the seat belt around himself, but paused and frowned. “Something wrong?”

 

“This don’t feel right,” he said slowly.

 

“What doesn’t?”

 

“I don’t know, but…” He looked around out the windows, and something must have caught his eye because his hands suddenly went for Trini’s locked seat belt. “Get out of the car Mrs Trini!” He struggled against the belt until he got it free. “Out! Get out!” He launched over her to push her door open and shove her out, and she fell to the ground hard and rolled away from the car. She was glaring up at the car, confused, when suddenly it exploded. She barely had time to lay down and cover her face. She felt the force of the blast move her, the pavement scraping her skin, and she felt the heat from the flames as if they were all over her. She scrambled further away and looked back in horror as the car burned. She sat up and looked around for whatever Kalleb had seen, but no one was around.

 

“Trini!” Kim came running out of the house, followed by their men, and she kept screaming Trini’s name.

 

“m’here,” she husked out. She coughed and pulled herself up. “I’m here!” She was able to shout out, but her lungs hurt. She still felt out of breath from the fall. Kim ran over to her and threw her arms around her tightly, and Trini yelped in pain.

 

“Sorry! Sorry!” Kim pulled back and looked Trini over. “Are you okay?”

 

“Yeah...I think so?” She wasn’t sure. She looked down at herself. Her skin looked red, peeled a little, and she was all scratched up. She seemed to have gotten far enough from the blast to be okay. Kaleb gave her a good shove. Kaleb. “Kaleb! He was in the car!” She launched herself from Kim and ran around to the other side of the burning car, and she saw Kaleb on the ground. He hadn’t gotten far enough away, and he had burns all over his body. One of their men, Jed, was standing over Kaleb with his own jacket, now singed and burned.

 

“I had to put him out,” Jed said, a little shaken.

 

“Is he alive?”

 

“Yeah...but, we gotta get him to the hospital. I know the rule is no hospitals, but he’ll die.”

 

Trini hesitated. Hospitals always meant questions. They couldn’t afford that. Not now. And she really did like Kaleb, he was a good man. But he’d understand when he woke up. “Take him and dump him at the door. Don’t let anyone see you.”

 

“Yes ma’am,” Jed answered. He motioned to one of his buddies to help pull Kaleb up and take him to one of their cars, and they took off.

 

Trini looked around again. She was glad, again, that they had no close neighbors. Just the woods that surrounded their house. She looked at a couple of their men who were just standing there and she motioned to the car. “Put it out and find the bomb.” She had a bad feeling. A really bad feeling.

 

Kim came to her side and wrapped a gentle arm around her waist. “Let’s go inside and take care of you.”

 

“Someone just almost killed me,” she grumbled.

 

“I know, baby, and I’m as pissed as you, but we need to treat you. I’ll call Tig.” Emma Tig was their ‘healer’ so to speak. Treated them or their people when needed to avoid going to the hospital. Tig had been going through her residency at the hospital, but due to an unfortunate accident, had been terminated. But that worked out well for Trini and Kimberly.

 

“Okay,” Trini nodded. “Call Tig.” Something was still eating at her, and she couldn’t determine exactly what it was. She let her wife lead her inside and sit her down in the living room, and she thought. The explosion was familiar. Like she’d seen it countless times before. She sighed and lay her head back.

 

“Penelope is on the phone,” Kimberly said, walking over and sitting beside Trini.

 

“How did she hear already?!” Trini took the phone and spoke into it. “How did you hear already?”

 

“Jed called me on the way to the hospital with Kaleb. He wanted me to tell M.G. since they’re close. Thought it’d come better from me. I called you first.”

 

“Oh, glad to know I have priority.”

 

“Of course you do! Someone tried to blow you up! Why?!”

 

“Take a look at what I do, Pen.”

 

“Okay, but this isn’t normal. Usually people just try and shoot at you.”

 

“I’m fine.”

 

“But you almost weren’t!” Penelope sounded scared, and Trini sighed.

 

“Baby, your Mami has survived worse, and it’ll take a lot more to take me out.”

 

Penelope sighed. “No dying.”

 

“I don’t plan on it.”

 

“I have to call M.G.”

 

“Go call him. Tell him we’ll be keeping an ear out on Kaleb and we’ll bring him home when he’s released.”

“Okay…”

 

“I’m fine, Pen.”

 

“I know.”

 

“I love you,” Trini said softly.

 

“I love you, too, Mami.” And after a moment, Penelope disconnected. Trini handed the phone back to Kimberly. “And you. Stop worrying,” she told her wife, knowingly.

 

“We have to tell her,” Kim said.

 

“No, we don’t.”

 

“God, you’re so stubborn!”

 

“It’s what you love about me.”

 

“No, it’s literally not.” Kim crossed her arms and pouted. “I want to tell her.”

 

“She’ll just worry. Then she’ll be around us 24/7, and if someone comes after us she could get caught in the middle of it. That’s the last thing either of us wants.”

 

“I know…”

 

“So we don’t tell her. We’ll get to the end of this.”

 

“I hope so.”

 

It wasn’t until the next morning, when Trini awoke in pain, the salve Tig administered having faded, that she sat up with a clarity she’d been trying to grasp since the explosion happened.

 

“It was Boomer’s bomb,” she said.

  


* * *

 

 

Trini had, carefully, gotten dressed and with Kim at her side -- and their men with them -- Trini went over to Boomer’s apartment. For once, she knocked. After a moment he opened the door and looked around at all the people in front of his door.

 

“Hi?” He said.

 

“Hey, B,” Trini pushed her way inside and dragged Kim with her. Their men stayed outside, and Billy shut the door.

 

“What’s going on? What happened to you?”

 

“Someone tried to blow me up,” she said.

 

“What?! Are you okay?”

 

“I’m pissed off,” she answered. She faced Bily with crossed arms. “I’ve seen your shit go off enough to recognize it, and the bomb that was planted on my car was yours. The guys pulled what was left of it and it had your signature. So. Wanna explain?” She elbowed Kim, and Kim pulled the scraps of the bomb out and held it to Boomer. He took it and looked it over slowly.

 

“Guys, this is the bomb I built for Ty.”

 

“Why would you build a bomb for Ty?!” Kim shouted.

 

“He said you had a job for him that he needed it for. I don’t ask questions.”

 

“He lied!” Kimberly shouted on.

 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know what he had planned to do with it.”

 

“He’s dead,” Trini growled.

 

“He’s probably long gone,” Billy pointed out. “This was a manual. He had to be watching you to set it off himself. Which means he probably saw you survive.”

 

“I’ll find him,” Trini snapped.

 

“Are you mad at me?” Boomer asked.

 

“I...no,” Trini sighed. “You didn’t know. From now on though, you double check with us.”

 

“Okay,” he nodded.

 

“Your shit almost had my wife killed,” Kimberly said, her voice dark. “I _am_ mad at you.”

 

Billy gulped. Everyone knew they didn’t want Kim mad at them. Kim had a silent kind of anger that could really hurt in the long run.

 

“She’ll get over it,” Trini assured. She took Kimberly’s hand and pulled her towards the door.

 

“I am sorry,” Boomer offered.

 

“Thanks, B.”

 

* * *

 

 

Another month passed quickly in our story. Penelope and Josie spent more and more time together, and Penelope was happier than she realized she had ever been. While the romance bloomed, Penelope’s moms were dodging close calls with people trying to kill them. They never let Penelope know, and they took out as many of the assassins as they could. The entire time, they were still after Ty for what he did to Trini. They were bound and determined to catch him and make him pay; maybe get some answers from him that they hadn’t managed to get from anyone else. They figured he was stupid enough to be scared and talk.

 

We fade back in on our story with Penelope laying in her bed with Josie beside her. Penelope wasn’t sure what time it was, but they had woken up and gotten lost in a haze of sex for a long time. They were both on their backs staring up at the ceiling, and neither had spoken for awhile. Eventually, Josie broke the silence.

 

“My dad found out where I work and came to see me.”

 

“Your dad? Why?” Penelope rarely heard Josie talk about her dad, still, and she didn’t know what the story there was, but she knew that this was something big.

 

“He...thinks your moms aren’t good people. I told him he’s crazy.”

 

“What would make him think that?” Penelope asked with a scoff. Her heart started to pound in her chest though.

 

“He’s a cop, he thinks bad things lurk everywhere.”

 

“Your dad’s...a cop?”

 

“Well, a detective,” Josie said. She turned her head to Penelope. “He gets obsessive about things. It’s one of the things...that I can’t be around, you know?”

 

“Sure…” Penelope said, distracted. Josie’s dad being a cop, a _detective_ wasn’t a good thing. True, they didn’t have a very good relationship, but it was definitely something she’d have to let her moms know.

 

Josie looked up again. “He told me to quit. Like I’ll listen to him. That’s how it is with him, though. Always Alaric’s way. No other way-”

 

Penelope sat up quickly. That name. She knew that name. How could she not know the name of one of her moms’ biggest enemies. Alaric Saltzman had been hovering around their families world for her whole life, it seemed. He was always trying to prove they were who they were, who he thought they were, but her moms were careful. They let him see a perfect family life, and he tried to dig deeper.

 

Of course, Josie’s dad could be some other Alaric, they didn’t have the same last name, but with a  first name like that...no, it was bad. She was in a really bad place. What would her moms do when they realized they happened to hire Saltzman’s daughter to- ... _no_ . No. They wouldn’t. They wouldn’t and not _tell_ her.

 

Only, they would. They exactly fucking would.

 

All that Penelope felt was anger, fueling through her like a rocket, and it was surprising that she was able to keep herself collected when she turned and spoke to Josie, who was staring at her in alarm.

 

“I just remembered that I promised I’d do something for my Mami,” she said, convincingly.

 

“Oh. Okay.” Josie frowned as she got up and found her clothes. “Is everything alright?”

 

“Yeah! Yeah...but...if I flake on her I have to hear one of her speeches and, honestly, once you’ve heard all of them…” She got dressed, too. She didn’t even care to dress in her usual style. She pulled on a pair of holey jeans, and a black tee shirt, and she left her hair loose. Josie followed her to the front door.

 

“I’m sorry,” Penelope said, honestly. She was sorry that Josie was caught up in all of this, that her moms had purposefully caught her up in all of it. Mostly, she was sorry she hadn’t seen it all sooner.

 

“It’s okay, I understand.” Josie kissed Penelope’s cheek. “Call me later?”

 

“Yeah, sure,” Penelope nodded. She smiled at Josie and shut the door behind her, then went to pull her black boots on and find the keys to her bike. She was downstairs and on her bike in no time, and soon she was flying through the streets. She knew every turn, knew where to avoid the cops, and knew how fast she could push it.

 

She stopped at the house first, but no one was home. Neither of them were at the restaurant either, so the next logical place was the warehouse. Their other office. She came to a hard stop behind the building, beside her Mami’s bike, and left her helmet hanging on the handle, then walked around to the front door and let herself in.

 

Penelope stormed across the warehouse, boots clacking, and she glanced up. A large office overlooked the warehouse with plated glass windows all along it. The room was dark and empty. One other place to look.

 

She stalked to the back side of the room and came to two doors. One was open, darkness behind it, and the other was closed.

 

Bingo.

 

She shoved it open and stalked in. Inside, her mothers stood over a man strapped to a chair. His face was bloody and bruised, and a trail of blood dripped down his chin. Penelope would bet he was missing a tooth, courtesy of her mom. Behind all the blood and bruising she was pretty sure she knew him. Some douchebag named Al or Ed or...Ty. That was it. Well, he must have really pissed them off.

 

Jason stood closest to the man, his knuckles bloody, and he looked up at Penelope with a frown. Trini was standing over a table of weapons, her fingers paused from running over them. Kim’s hands found her hips.

 

“Pen?”

 

Penelope gave them no time to ask. She whisked a small dagger from the table and walked over to press it to Ty’s clavicle. “I’m guessing you need him,” she said, her voice cold and emotionless.

 

“Penelope,” Trini called out in warning.

 

“Just have a question for you,” she said, her voice going tight. She twisted the dagger, not pressing it in, but giving the man a nice sting of pain.

 

“What is it? We’re busy,” Kim said.

 

Penelope smirked darkly. “I won’t even ask if you knew she was a Saltzman,” she began. “Obviously you did. So what’s the plan? Use her to get him to do...what? What’s so important that you’re using her?”

 

“It’s not your concern,” Trini said.

 

Pushing the tip of the dagger into Ty’s neck -- he screamed, she just smiled. “It is my concern. If it’s about Josie, it’s my concern.”

 

“Jesus, Penny!” Trini shouted, hands falling to her sides. “You weren’t supposed to fall in love with her!”

 

Penelope laughed. “I’m not...I’m not in…” She shook her head, eyes flashing a kind of crazy that her moms knew well and that didn’t come out often. “That’s not the point.” She looked at the man on the other end of her blade. “Does he have anything to do with it? With her?” She narrowed her eyes at him. He was glaring up at her, blood trickling from where she held the blade to his skin.

 

“He has nothing to do with you,” Kim said. But Penelope heard the tightness in her mom’s voice. She moved the dagger to Ty’s chin and tilted his head back. “What’d you do?”

 

“Crazy bitch,” he hissed.

 

“Hey!” Trini shouted. She whipped out her gun and pointed it at him. “Watch your fuckin’ mouth around her.”

 

Penelope rolled her eyes. “Just tell me why they’re torturing you.” She moved the dagger up his chin, slicing a line as she went.

 

“Penelope! Out!” Kim shouted.

 

“Tell me!” Penelope yelled at him, moving the dagger to his throat.

 

“Pen,” Jason broke in softly, “just let your moms-”

 

“NO!” Penelope started to push the dagger in, but was stopped.

 

“Enough!” Trini barked, and in the next second there was a gunshot and Ty slumped forward with a hole in the center of his forehead. Penelope turned and looked at her Mami who was calmly replacing the gun in the holster at her back.

 

“Pen. _Outside_. We’ll be right there,” Trini said, her tone not to be questioned.

 

For once, Penelope did as she was told and walked out into the warehouse, pocketing the dagger for another day. She stood and stared out one of the windows and watched the sundown as she let her heartbeat slow to a normal rhythm.

 

“You made things messy back there,” Kim’s voice came.

 

Penelope turned around and instead of seeing both of her moms, she only saw Kim. Her shoulders rolled back and her arms crossed. “Where’s Mami?”

 

“Too angry right now.”

 

“She’s the one that shot him.”

 

“You’re too invested,” Kim went on. “Whatever you have with her, her have to end it.”

 

Eyes narrowed, Penelope stepped closer to her mom. “Why don’t you tell me why first?”

 

“That’s not something I can talk to you about without Mami.”

 

“But you can tell me to end things with someone that-” She stopped and shook her head. No, her mom didn’t get to hear that. She didn’t deserve it. Penelope stormed towards the door, but Kim was quick at her heel.

 

“Where are you going?”

 

“Away from here.”

 

“If you get on that bike now, this angry, you’ll hurt yourself.”

 

“Oh, you care?!” Penelope spun around and Kim stumbled to a stop. A look of hurt came over her mother’s face.

 

“Of-of course I care...how can you say that to me?”

 

“How can you keep something like this from me?” Penelope’s question was chillingly calm.

 

“There are a lot of things we have to do in this business that we don’t like,” Kim said. “You have to learn that now.”

 

“I learned that on my first birthday with you, when you were both busy with a job and sent Jason and Boomer to have cake with me.”

 

“Oh, did I join in just in time to hear how terrible life with us for parents is?” Trini’s voice came up behind them. Penelope shot her eyes to her Mami and gave her a glare.

 

“When will you quit treating me like a child and actually tell me what goes on?” Penelope asked harshly.

 

“For one, when you don’t act like a child.” Trini said. She held a thumb over her shoulder. “Because all’a that? Too much.”

 

“I never claimed to be an easy child,” Penelope said with a sinister smirk.

 

“Pen, we don’t take lightly the things we keep from you,” Kim said, trying to calm the situation.

 

“I don’t care about all the other things right now! I care about this! Okay, I didn’t tell you I was dating her, but you knew, right?” She looked between her moms and saw them exchange a glance. “Right. You knew. And you still didn’t tell me.”

 

“Let’s go upstairs,” Trini said.

 

“Why?” Penelope asked.

 

“So we can talk.”

 

“Are you going to tell me about Josie?”

 

Again, her moms exchanged a look, a long one, and they nodded to each other and looked at Penelope. “We’ll tell you,” Trini said. “But let’s go sit down.”

 

* * *

 

 

In her moms’ office there was a couch and two plush armchairs. Penelope chose one of the chairs. She knew better than to sit on that couch. She knew her moms. Ew. They both sat on it, facing her, and she stared at the picture on the wall above their heads. It was her, at the beach when she was eight. She had a large conch shell to her ear, her dark hair waving in the breeze, and the ocean roaring behind her. It was black and white, and it made it seem that much more beautiful. But she remembered that they had only been there for an hour before her Mami said they had to leave. Work had come up. Work always came up. With a bored sigh, Penelope looked at her parents.

 

“So?”

 

“Honey, we wanted to tell you, but we thought it’d be easier for everyone if we didn’t. And then...we noticed you and Josie…” Her mom trailed off.

 

“Gettin’ close,” Trini supplied simply. “Then we knew that if we told you, you might do somethin’ stupid. Turns out we were right.”

 

“Okay, no,” Penelope shook her head. “If you had told me months ago, I would have gotten it. I could have been detached.”

 

“You were all over her the second she walked in the front door,” Kim said.

 

“I was _not_!” Penelope scoffed.

 

“Point is,” Trini said, holding up a hand. “We didn’t know what the situation was, so we didn’t tell you. But yeah, we hired Josie cause her dad is Alaric Saltzman.”

 

“Okay, but _why_? What’s the plan?”

 

“We need him to give us some information, and we thought if he knew his daughter was close by he’d work with us,” Kim said. She leaned back and propped her arm across the back of the couch, slouching in her seat.

 

“What kind of information?”

 

Again, her moms looked at each other, had one of those silent conversations, before looking forward again. “Listen, babygirl,” Trini said, her voice softer than it had been all day. She leaned forward, her arms to her knees, and she stared at Penelope. “Someone put out a hit on us. Me and Mom. A big one. We’re trying to find out who it is. We think Saltzman can track them down using his resources.”

 

Penelope blinked. It felt like a joke. One big joke. Sure, people always tried to kill her parents, but...not like this. Not in a way that brought actual fear into her Mami’s eyes. Then Penelope’s own eyes widened. “The car bomb...that was…”

 

“Ty,” Kim supplied.

 

“That mother fuck-”

 

“He’s dead now,” Trini said. “So is every other threat that’s come at us. We’ve got our backs. So you don’t need to worry.”

 

“Oh, I don’t need to worry that someone could off one of you at any moment?”

 

“That’s no different than every other day,” Kim shrugged.

 

Penelope shook her head. She couldn’t believe her mom was being so dismissive over it all. “So what if Saltzman doesn’t help you? He and Josie aren’t close.”

 

“A parent will do anything to keep their child safe. No matter what their relationship is,” Trini said thickly.

 

“He already knows she’s working for you,” Penelope said.

 

“He what?” Kim asked, leaning forward as well.

 

“She told me today. He, I don’t know, stalked her or something, and he knows where she’s working. He’s been trying to prove for years that Kim and Trini Park are...well,” she waved a hand between them. “So now that his daughter is working for them, you really think he’ll leave it at that?”

 

“No,” Trini said. “I think he’ll find us for a chat.”

 

“Which...will be right where we need him,” Kim mused.

 

“Okay, but nowhere in your plan does it say hold Josie hostage or anything, right? That’s not a part of the plan?” Penelope asked.

 

“Well, it wasn’t…” Trini said.

 

“No.”

 

“We don’t know yet,” Kim said.

 

“ _No_!” Penelope shouted again. “Don’t traumatize her for this.”

 

“What if it means keeping us alive?” Kim pled.

 

“Oh, that’s some fucked up guilting there, Mom,” Penelope chuckled, shaking her head.

 

“She’s just saying what’s true,” Trini said.

 

“No. You leave Josie out of it.” Penelope stood up. “I mean it.”

 

“Sit, we’re not done,” Trini grumbled.

 

“I’m done,” Penelope argued. She went for the door, but stopped and turned around. “And if one of you gets shot, I’ll be a lot more pissed off than I am now, so don’t.”

 

“We’ll try, honey,” Kim said. Trini said nothing.

 

“Tell me when you know what the plan is,” Penelope went on. “I want to know. Everything.”

 

“We will,” Kim nodded.

 

Penelope stared at them a moment longer. She was pissed at them, yes, but she also loved them very much and didn’t want either one of them to get dead. She swung around and walked out the door and down the stairs, and she sighed to herself. It was all really, really fucked up. Hopefully, her moms knew what they were doing.

When Penelope got home she changed into clothes that more suited her and headed to the restaurant. She needed something to keep herself busy. When she walked in she scoped the place out, as per usual, and was surprised to see a familiar face at one of the tables in the back, facing the front windows and door. She immediately walked over to the old man that sat there reading the paper with what was sure to be a black coffee in front of him while he waited on his pancakes and bacon. He was predictable in one way, at least. He glanced up and beamed when he saw her.

 

“Penny!” Outside of her moms, he was the only one allowed to call her that. Not even Boomer or Jason got to.

 

“Alphie!” A nickname she knew no one else got away with calling the old mobster. She bent over to hug him and he rubbed her back.

 

“How _are_ you, Penelope?”

 

Penelope settled into the chair across from Alpha and rested her chin in her hand. It was so good to see him. He’d been off somewhere doing something secretive for her moms, and she hadn’t heard from him since he left. “I’m good,” she said, though it was a lie.

 

“Are you?” He raised a bushy grey brow from behind thick-rimmed gold glasses.

 

Her nose wrinkled and she glanced around. She knew Josie wasn’t working, but she really didn’t think it was the place to get into everything. Alpha was also one of the only people in the world she’d actually open up to. Alpha was like a grandfather to her; the only one she’d ever known. He worked for her mom’s dad for ages, and her mom kept him around. He was one of the best. Deadly. And no one would ever know just how unless they caught him on the wrong side of his gun. “We can talk about it later,” she promised. “Are you done your secret mission?”

 

Since she was a child, he would tell her about his ‘secret missions’ and they always sounded so fascinating. He was probably the cause, more than her parents, for her wanting to go into the family business. He made it sound so alluring and dangerous, but a fun kind of dangerous. Like James Bond.

 

“No,” he said, shaking his head. He picked up his coffee and took a sip. “Only in town for a briefing, then I’ll be off again.”

 

Penelope frowned at that. “Oh.”

 

“Ah, don’t worry, dear, I’ll be home soon.”

 

That got a grin from her. “Good.”

 

“Your mothers will skin me alive for being seen in public while I’m here,” he chuckled.

 

“Then you’ll be happy to know that they’re at Location Two having a serious discussion about moi.” She flipped her hair.

 

“Oh? Are you in trouble?” The concern in his brown eyes melted Penelope a little.

 

“No, Alphie. Don’t worry. You know they’d never let me get into any trouble.”

 

“Certainly not. I still remember the day we met you, you know.” He placed his cup down and laced his fingers together.

 

“I know,” she said with a little eye roll. “You tell me all the time.”

 

“And you don’t like hearing it?” His brow raised again.

 

“I...didn’t say that.”

 

“Why don’t you and I take a stroll. I’ll tell you again. Or you can tell me what’s really going on with you.”

 

“But your pancakes…” She pointed towards the kitchen.

 

“Tell that M.G. to enjoy them on me. He never eats, poor boy.”

 

“He eats,” Penelope assured Alpha. “Like a trash chute.” She knew Alpha was referring to the fact that M.G. supported himself and had for a few years, since his parents disowned him, but she knew he never went hungry. Her moms wouldn’t let that happen. Not to one of their best undercover guys. “But okay,” she nodded. “I’ll let him know and we’ll go, okay?”

 

“I’ll be waiting right here,” Alpha said, picking up his coffee again.

 

Penelope walked into the kitchen where she caught M.G. and Landon dancing to some old school R&B while they worked. She rolled her eyes. “If only my mom saw you two now,” she said loudly. The quickly stopped and looked at her.

 

“Penelope Park, don’t be a rat,” M.G. said.

 

“Penelope Park is _not_ a rat,” she replied. “But you both should remember the last time you were goofing off back here and Landon nearly got second degree burns.”

 

Landon had the decency to look embarrassed. Easy with his big, stupid puppy dog face.  “We were just...trying to keep our chins up,” he said sheepishly.

 

“Whatever,” she said, waving him off. She looked at M.G. “Alpha said you’re welcome to his pancakes and bacon. He won’t need them.”

 

Both M.G. and Landon stared at her with wide eyes. “Did...something happen?” Landon asked.

 

“Yeah, old man Alpha _never_ shuts down his pancakes and bacon. Five ‘cakes, four strips of bacon, all the syrup that can fit in a boat,” M.G. said.

 

“Something more important came up,” she told them.

 

“Like _what_?” M.G. asked, putting said plate of food to the side.

 

“Me,” she smirked. She started to back out of the kitchen and pointed at M.G. “By the way, you owe me fifty bucks.” Her smirk widened more. It was wrong, very wrong, but he had bet her that Josie wouldn’t sleep with her for at least four months, and he had been very, very wrong. ( And yes, she knew that betting on her girlfriend was terrible, but, well, _he_ had started it! And she didn’t turn down a sure thing. )

 

“My girl!” M.G. shouted, excitedly, pumping his fist.

 

Penelope just laughed and turned to leave the kitchen. She came up behind Alpha and almost patted his back, but knew never to sneak up on him, so she walked around in front of him. “Ready?”

 

“I am,” he said, standing. He took some cash from his pocket and set it on the table. Probably a very generous tip. He was kind that way. He held out his arm for her and she linked hers through it. “Now,” he said, as they walked out the front door. “What _have_ you been doing to your dear mothers?”

 

That night, Penelope lay in her bed and stared at Josie sleeping. She was so torn on what to do. A part of her wanted to tell Josie everything, prepare her, but she knew deep down that doing so would betray her parents, and she could never do that. Alpha had listened carefully to everything, and he told her that were they living any other life that he’d tell her to be truthful with Josie. But they didn’t live another life. He said she needed to respect her moms and trust whatever plan they had, and that she had to keep it all quiet. Keeping all of that inside was hard. When Josie was laughing and teasing her, Penelope could only half-heartedly join in. Josie noticed that something was troubling Penelope, but Penelope kept saying she was fine, so Josie dropped it.

 

When it came time to go to bed, and Josie made a move to be physical, Penelope had said she was too tired. She didn’t know how to be that close to the girl when she knew so much that she couldn’t tell. How long would it be until Josie found out? Until something broke? Penelope knew the way the world worked, and she knew Josie wouldn’t just be okay with it all. She knew Josie would feel hurt. The last thing Penelope wanted to do was hurt Josie, and she knew she was going to.

 

Josie had fallen asleep, curled up on Penelope’s chest, and Penelope laid awake, wondering what the hell was going to happen. And when.

 

* * *

 

 

“Okay, what’s the plan?” Penelope walked through the living room of her childhood home and came to a stop in front of her moms sitting on the couch.

 

“Sit down,” Trini said.

 

With an eye roll, Penelope sat in the armchair beside them. “What’s the plan?” She asked again.

 

“You need to keep dating Josie, and you need to not tell her anything,” Kim said. “We’re going to see Saltzman tonight and tell him our demands.”

 

“Which are?”

 

“That he find out who put the hit on us,” Trini replied. “Or else we kill his daughter.”

 

“ _Kill_ ?!” Penelope was on her feet. “No. No one said anything about _killing_ Josie!”

 

“He’ll do it,” Kim assured. “Josie will be fine.”

 

“Why would you even _say_ that?!”

 

“We have to give him...incentive,” Trini said cooly. “You understand.”

 

“Killing Josie is _not_ an option. _You_ understand that, right?”

 

“Last I checked, you weren’t in charge,” Trini growled. “So don’t speak to us like that.”

 

“Uh, you just suggested killing my _girlfriend_ ,” Penelope shot back.

 

“You _really_ wanna watch your tone,” Trini said, standing up and staring her daughter down.

 

“Okay, okay, let’s all...chill,” Kim said, trying to mediate. The whole situation was quite normal. Trini and Penelope stubbornly at odds and Kim forced to be in the middle.

 

“Mom!” Penelope turned to her mom. “Tell me you won’t kill Josie!” Her eyes were fierce and full of emotion, and Kim stared at her for a moment.

 

“Honey-” Kim started.

 

“No. Promise me.” Penelope moved closer to where Kim sat and crossed her arms.

 

“You know I don’t make promises like that.”

 

“Don’t you want to find out who’s out for us and take them down?” Trini spoke up.

 

Penelope turned to her, and her anger at her Mami dissipated slightly. “Of course,” she sighed. “But...I care about her.” Words that she had never said to them before. She watched them look at each other, speak with their eyes, before Trini looked back to her.

 

“If it comes down to it...we won’t kill Josie,” she said reluctantly.

 

“You swear?” She glanced at Kim, who nodded.

 

“I just told you, we don’t-” Kim started, but Penelope cut her off.

 

“You swear, or I tell her everything.”

 

“Jesus, Penelope,” Trini sighed, rolling her eyes.

 

“Fine. We swear,” Kim said.

 

“Okay…” Penelope nodded and backed up then sat down, taking a deep breath.

 

“You...really do care about her,” Kim said, almost in awe.

 

“I...guess so,” she said reluctantly. Talking about that, about her feelings, _having_ feelings, was new to her. She hadn’t even told Alpha how much she cared for Josie, though she was sure he sensed it.

 

Trini stepped over to Penelope and reached down to take her face in both of her hands. She tilted Penelope’s head back and stared down at her. “All we’ve ever wanted for you is a happy life,” she said softly. Her thumb brushed Penelope’s cheek soothingly, and Penelope felt like a child again, ready to curl up in her Mami’s arms and suck her thumb. “We’re so glad you’ve found someone who makes you happy.” That made Penelope smile slightly. Trini smiled at that and leaned down to kiss her forehead. “We love you, Penny.”

 

“I know,” she whispered. Her eyes closed, relieved, but it was short lived because she knew that shit was still about to explode. “She might find out who we are.”

 

Trini let go of her face and stepped back. Again, she glanced at her wife, then back to Penelope. “We’ll deal with that when it happens.”

 

“You really think he can find out who it is?”

 

“He’s not all good,” Kim said. “He’s got connections that would shame the police force, and those fuckers are hard to shame. He can figure it out with the right motivation.”

 

“You mean Josie.”

 

“I do,” Kim said with a nod. “Are you okay with all of this?”

 

“Do I have a choice?” She sighed and leaned back in the chair. No one answered, and they didn’t have to.

 

* * *

 

“Well,” Trini said thickly. “That was fun.” She watched the hallway that her daughter had exited from several minutes before.

 

“We knew this was a possibility.”

 

“She has actual feelings for her,” Trini pointed out. “ _That_ we didn’t bank on.” She got to her feet and ran her fingers through her hair.

 

“Had to happen one day,” Kim said with a shrug. “And Josie _is_ adorable.”

 

“I don’t wanna talk about it anymore. I wanna take a shower.” Trini started for their bedroom before stopping and looking over her shoulder with one sleek brow raised. “Joining?”

 

“Really? After that, you’re horny?”

 

“Baby. I’m always horny for you, you know that.”

 

Kim’s eyes strayed to her wife’s ass and she bit her lip. “Yeah, okay, what the hell.” She jumped to her feet and chased after Trini, both shrieking as they crashed through the bathroom door. Kim caught Trini’s hips and pressed her own into Trini’s ass.

 

“It’s the same one as always,” Trini teased, pushing back into Kim.

 

“Yeah, mine.” Kim smacked it and Trini rolled her neck out.

 

“Better be nice if you want an orgasm.”

 

“Fuck that,” Kim laughed. She spun Trini around and shoved her onto the closed toilet seat and straddled her. “I don’t like nice.” And she leaned in and kissed Trini, biting her lip and knocking teeth. Trini growled and put her hands on Kim’s ass to pull her closer as they kissed deeply.

 

Kim tugged her shirt off and threw it on the floor, and Trini’s hands quickly moved up to get Kim’s bra off and drop it. Her hands went for Kim’s breasts and squeezed them, and Kim moaned softly as Trini flicked her nipples.

 

“Pants. Off.” Trini demanded. Kim got to her feet and pushed out of her pants and panties and kicked them off. She backed towards the shower. “Don’t make me go in there alone,” Kim warned. “I’m getting off with or without you.”

 

“Ooh, I do like watching.”

 

“I prefer participation.” Kim waved a hand at her wife. “Clothes off.”

 

Trini stood and complied, slowly stripping and making a show of it for Kim. Kim’s eyes roamed Trini’s body slowly as though she hadn’t seen it a million times, and it often felt like she hadn’t. Once Trini was naked she moved closer to Kim. “What if I just fuck you here on the floor?”

 

“What if...we fuck in the shower?” Kim suggested. She turned and leaned over to turn the tap on, and quickly she felt Trini’s front pressed into her ass and she rolled her eyes. “Really?”

 

“Don’t go leanin’ over in front of me.” Trini reached her hand around Kim’s waist and between her legs and found her clit. Kim hissed and grabbed onto the tub. Trini brushed her nose to the side of Kim’s face and kissed her cheek lightly. “Get in.”

 

Kim didn’t want to lose Trini’s touch, but she wanted to get in the water. Knowing what was coming, she quickly jumped into the shower. Trini followed and had Kim pressed face first to the wall in no time. She ran her hand up and down Kim’s hip and against her ass.

 

“You feel good,” Trini whispered, water jumping off her lips.

 

“Don’t make me wait, baby,” Kim replied, pressing her ass back against Trini. Trini’s hand slid around the front of her waist and down between her legs, and Kim sighed at the contact. Then Trini pulled her hand away, and Kim whined. “Tri-iin.”

 

“I’m gonna wash you, beautiful,” Trini said. She turned to grab a loofa and some soap, and put the soap on the loofa before bringing it against Kim’s back. She ran it up and down, in circles, all over her back. Kim leaned more into the wall and relaxed. The hot water and the soap felt so good. She felt the loofa run down her ass and then the backs of her thighs, and Trini was knelt behind her. The loofa slid up the insides of her legs and she parted them more, hoping Trini would go higher. She jumped when Trini let her knuckles brush up between her legs and whined again when Trini’s hand was gone and going down her legs. The loofa ran down one leg and up the other, and from there it went up her back and over her shoulders. She straightened and Trini stood on her tiptoes to reach down Kim’s front and run the loofa over her boobs.

 

“Need a step-stool?” She teased breathlessly.

 

“Really wanna make fun of the person holdin’ your orgasm?”

 

“Keep going,” Kim said.

 

“That’s what I thought.” But for good measure, Trini bit Kim’s shoulder; hard. Kim moaned and bucked her hips forward into the cold shower wall.

 

“Trini…”

 

“I’m gettin’ there, Princess.” Trini took Kim’s hand and ran the loofta down her arm slowly, then did the same with the other. “Get under the water.” Kim did, her back to the spray, and Trini stepped forward to run her hands over Kim’s skin slowly to brush away the soap. She ran her hands all over Kim’s slippery skin slowly, enjoying the feel of it beneath her fingertips. She was always amazed that she never bored of her wife’s body. When she had been much younger, before Kim, she rarely slept with the same woman twice. She figured once she’d been there, why do it again? But Kimberly, Kimberly made her feel refreshed every time.

 

“You’re killin’ me, Trin,” Kim whined.

 

“Lean back,” Trini told her. Kim leaned back against Trini’s body, just out of the spray of water, but in it enough for it to run down her stomach and waist. Trini pressed her nose to the side of Kim’s head and slid her hand down between her legs. Around the warmth of the shower, she immediately felt the warmth of Kim’s wetness on her fingers and she bit back a groan. She loved the reaction she got out of the other woman. She pushed two fingers into Kim and listened to Kim’s soft groan.

 

Trini pumped her fingers slowly at first, just enjoying the feel of it. She pressed her lips to Kim’s jaw as she started to speed up. She knew how impatient her girl was. Trini’s free arm was around Kim’s waist, supporting her, and she could feel Kim’s stomach muscles twitching against her arm. Kim started to let out longer, louder moans of pleasure, and Trini smiled. It wasn’t her usual smirk, but a soft smile that only her wife and daughter ever got to see. ( And maybe Boomer. )

 

“Oh, Trin,” Kim groaned. Her hand reached behind herself to tangle in Trini’s wet hair and grip onto it tightly. Trini grunted in pleasure at the hold, and she sped up again. She could feel her hand start to cramp up, but she wasn’t stopping. She pulled her fingers out and rubbed her fingers in fast circles against Kim’s clit, and Kim pulled her hair. Trini clenched her thighs together, pleasure shooting straight between them. She shoved her fingers back into Kim and fucked her relentlessly. Her thumb pressed to Kim’s clit.

 

“You’re so hot when you come for me,” she told Kim. She kissed and sucked on the juncture of her neck and shoulder. “Remember our wedding night?”

 

Kim moaned loudly and nodded. “Y-yeah,” she gasped out.

 

“We made each other come again and again until we couldn’t bear to be touched,” Trini said, her lips having moved to Kim’s ear. “You make me want to do that every day.”

 

Kim was pulling Trini’s hair so hard that Trini’s head tilted and she hissed with pleasured pain. She was leaning all of her weight on Trini then, and Trini tried hard not to slip. It only took a few more thrusts before Kim came, hard, and cried out loudly. Trini grinned. Her hand slowed as Kim’s body stopped spasming, and she pulled her fingers free.

 

“Mmm, that was so good,” Kim said airily. She stood on shaky feet and turned to Trini, falling against her. Trini caught her, slid on the tile a little, but steadied both of them. She kept her arms around her wife and looked up at her.

 

“You look high,” Trini snorted.

 

Kim draped her arms around Trini’s shoulders and dropped her forehead to Trini’s. “I feel high. High on you.”

 

“That...was fuckin’ cheesy.”

 

“No, admit it was so gouda,” Kim chuckled.

 

“Oh god.”

 

“Mmm, you made me melt.”

 

“Please, stop.” But Trini was smiling slightly.

 

“I can’t help it. I’m fondue your lovin’.”

 

“If you don’t stop I will get out of this shower,” Trini warned.

 

“Don’t brie ridiculous.”

 

“That’s it. I’m out.” Trini started to pull away, but Kim held onto her tightly.

 

“Nooo, baby, stay. I wanna fuck you.”

 

“Will you stop with the cheese puns?”

 

“Yes, I’m sorry. I just caught a queso the sillies.”

 

“Kimberly!”

 

Kim dropped her head back in laughter and pulled Trini tight against her body. “Okay, okay, I’m done. I swear. Will you stay?”

 

“Only because I was promised an orgasm,” Trini said dryly. Kim walked her back against the wall and pulled away from her.

 

“And you’re gonna get one,” she said. She lowered herself to her knees and pushed Trini’s legs apart. Trini slipped slightly, but Kim held her hips. “I got you...lean on me.”

 

“If you let me fall…” Trini held onto Kim’s shoulders and leaned against her. Kim kissed up her thigh and looked up through her lashes.

 

“You can trust me…I’m not crackers.”

 

“For fuck’s sake, Hart was that a-ohhh,” Trini’s words died and her eyes closed as she felt her wife’s tongue against her.

 

* * *

 

That night, Kim and Trini stood in a darkened parking lot, leaning against an old beat up sedan. Both were dressed in black, head to toe, and both were heavily armed. Trini’s bike was parked on the other side of the car.

 

“So,” Kim said, arms crossed. “What about after this? After we take down this mystery person? What’s to keep Saltzman from coming after us?”

 

It was probably something they should have thought about sooner, but they were too wrapped up in getting their guy. Typically, they made sure they had all angles and possibilities covered. Kim didn’t like to think they were losing their touch.

 

“Far as he knows, we’ll go after Josie at anytime,” Trini said around the toothpick in her mouth. “We’ll just keep remindin’ him what we can do.”

 

Kim nodded. “Right.”

 

They stood there awhile longer, waiting, until a middle aged man with sandy hair came stumbling out the door of the bar and towards them. He stopped and looked between them, confused at first, then seemed to sober up a little bit as he realized who they were.

 

“Guess we don’t hafta introduce ourselves,” Trini said to him. She reached out and took the car keys dangling in his hand. “I really think my wife should drive. You’re in no condition to.” She tossed Kim the keys without looking, and Kim caught them.

 

“What do you want?” Alaric asked them.

 

“To go for a drive,” Trini told him. She held the back door open once Kim unlocked the doors. “Get in.”

 

“I’m arresting you both.”

 

“For what?” Kim asked. “Being your designated drivers?” She hopped in the front seat and started the car.

 

“In,” Trini repeated. “We need to have a little talk.”

 

Alaric glared at Trini for awhile, but eventually gave in and climbed into the backseat. Trini shut the door and walked around to the passenger seat and got in. Kim backed out and pulled out onto the street.

 

“So what’s this about?” Alaric asked, looking a little sick already.

 

“Your daughter, Josie,” Trini said. She looked over her shoulder. “We’re aware that you know she works for us, so here’s what’s gonna happen...you’re gonna help us out with a little project, and we won’t kill her.”

 

“Don’t threaten my daughter,” he growled.

 

“Too late. I did. Do we have a deal?”

 

“What’s the project?”

 

“Someone wants us dead,” Kim said.

 

“Just one person? I find that hard to believe.”

 

“Someone wants us dead,” Kim repeated, her voice harder. “They put a pretty hefty hit out. We need you to find out who it is.”

 

“How do you expect me to do that?”

 

“We know you have some... _friends_ that could help you out,” Trini said. “Call them up. Dig around. Do your cop thing.”

 

“How about I do my cop thing and take you in?” He reached down and fumbled at his waist for something, and Trini whipped out her gun in seconds flat and had it pointed at him when he pulled out his badge. He stared down the barrel of her gun.

 

“If you kill me you won’t find out anything,” he said.

 

“True,” Trini replied. “But at least you’d be out of our hair.”

 

“Then kill me, because I won’t help you.”

 

“Okay.” Trini released the safety. “But then I’m going to kill Josie. And maybe her sister, too.” Her eyes were narrowed and on fire.

 

Alaric must have seen it, because he sat back. “Fine. But leave my daughters alone.”

 

“Come through for us, and we will. And if you tell anyone about this, about us, even after  this is all over, all bets are off,” Trini said. “I won’t hesitate to kill them.”

 

“My wife keeps her promises,” Kim said, conversationally, as she took a sharp turn. Alaric slammed into the window with a grunt.

 

“Where are you taking me?”

 

“Home,” Kim said. She pulled into a driveway. “See? I didn’t even need GPS.” Her voice was friendly, but with an undercurrent of warning. They knew where he lived. Where his other daughter lived. They had him.

 

“Do you have anywhere for me to start?” He asked.

 

“And reveal our sources?” Trini asked. She smirked. “Nuh uh, you gotta do this on your own.”

 

“How will I contact you?”

 

“We’ll be in touch,” she told him, putting her gun away. She got out of the car and walked around to open his door and yanked him out. He stumbled to the ground. “You really shouldn’t drink and drive, Alaric. What would your girls do without you?”

 

“I think Josie’s doing just fine without him,” Kim put in, getting out of the driver’s seat. “That must hurt.”

 

Alaric glared up at them. “That’s none of your business.”

 

“What can I say?” Kim asked with a shrug. “Josie likes _us_.” She reached for Trini’s hand and the two turned and walked down the driveway.

 

“We’ll find out if you misbehave, Saltzman,” Trini said over her shoulder. Then she and Kim turned onto the street, hand in hand, and walked back in the direction of the bar.

 

* * *

 

 

“Penelope! Stop!” Josie was laughing and batting Penelope away from her neck, where Penelope was trying to leave a mark.

 

“What?” Penelope leaned back and looked at her naked girlfriend in her bed. “Can I help it if I have a primal desire to show everyone that you’re mine?”’’

 

“Excuse you.” Josie held up a finger. “I am my own person. I belong to me.”

 

“How sexy of you,” Penelope said with a smirk. She rested her head on her hand, elbow on her pillow.

 

Josie stared up at her. “You think everything is sexy.”

 

“No. Everything about you is sexy.”’

 

“Well...that is nice to hear.”

 

Penelope used her free hand to trace the bruise cropping up on Josie’s skin. “Then remind me to tell you more often.” She gazed at Josie, and felt her heart do That Thing. It didn’t scare her as much anymore though. It had, however, taken a couple of weeks before she could have sex with Josie again. She fought with herself so much over the fact that she was keeping things from her girl, and she had been afraid that being intimate would reveal all of it. Josie wore her down though, and it took a sobering question from Josie _“Penelope, do you not want me anymore?”_ for her to let go of her qualms and be with her. And it had been beautiful. Then they just lay together, not saying much of anything, until Penelope had started sucking on Josie’s neck. That brought them to watching each other and smiling, as though they shared the biggest secret that no one else in the world was in on. There was a flash of thought, of feeling, in Penelope, that said, _Is this what falling in love feels like?_ She wasn’t sure if she wanted to know the answer.

 

“Can I tell you something?” Josie asked softly, her eyes suddenly focused on the ceiling.

 

“Anything,” Penelope answered simply.

 

Josie took a deep breath. “My mom...Caroline...she’s not my biological mom.”

 

Penelope frowned. “What?”

 

“She was best friends with my dad and his wife, Josette,” her voice cracking on the name. She breathed in again. “Josette couldn’t have children, but they wanted a baby badly, so Caroline offered to be a surrogate. With my dad’s sperm and his wife’s eggs. She got pregnant, and soon they realized we were twins. Dad says Jos- my mom, was so happy. Really excited. She started the nursery right away, talked baby names, everything. But, um, then something happened. This guy that my dad had been trying to put away for a long time came after him. My mom was with him, they were on their way to a restaurant or something. The guy took out a gun to shoot my dad, but got her instead. She died before the ambulance could arrive.” Josie paused and cleared her throat. Penelope took her hand and squeezed it, concern on her face. “My dad was a mess, and he had these babies on the way, and Mom- Caroline, didn’t know what to do. She said it was the scariest point in her life, and she’s been through some scary things. He told her he didn’t want us. That he couldn’t raise us. They fought. She said...that she got what he was going through, but that Josette would have wanted him to raise us.

 

“Caroline went into labor before Dad came around, and she panicked. She thought if the hospital knew that the babies had nowhere to go that we’d go into foster care, and she didn’t want that, so she pretended we were hers. She signed the birth records as our mom. She took us home. It was a month before he showed up to see us. He wanted to take us home, but Caroline...she already loved us. She knew she wasn’t our mom, but she said we had all bonded.” Josie wiped a tear from her cheek and looked at Penelope. “I don’t know what would have happened to us if she hadn’t lied. We might not even have been together.”

 

“People do what they have to do to protect the ones they care about,” Penelope said softly. She stoked Josie’s cheek. “What happened then?”

 

“They argued. He threatened to have her arrested. Then they calmed down, and he admitted that he couldn’t do it on his own. He’d need help. Mom had no one, and as she says, she had sworn off love, so they moved in together and raised us together. Until Lizzie and I were seven. Dad was still a mess, and Mom couldn’t take it anymore. She loved me and Lizzie, but she didn’t sign up to be a wife. Dad agreed that we could go stay with her sometimes and see her, because to us she was still our Mom. We didn’t know anything else. But I wanted to go with her. I wasn’t as close to dad as Lizzie was, and Mom says I needed the maternal thing. He tried to fight it at first, but then I think he realized that he wasn’t fit to take care of two little kids, so he let me go.” She fell silent and closed her eyes.

 

“What about you and Lizzie?”

 

“We were really close. As close as twins could be. She was so angry, and when Lizzie gets angry...her emotions get all over the place. She wouldn’t see us for months. Eventually, she came around, and she’d come stay with us for a week, and I’d go to dad’s for a week, and we all found a way to make it work. That’s what I remember, living with both of them separately. Lizzie and I went to the same school so we still saw each other all the time. We got older, and her...episodes became more frequent. I tried to calm her down when I could. I was...complacent. I walked on eggshells around her. I became her shadow. Wherever she went, I followed and softened the path. Living with dad was taking a toll on her. He was distant and angry; he never got over losing his wife. And he was a cop, so he worked all the time. He’d drop Lizzie off at all hours, and she’d meltdown over him not loving her.” Josie shook her head and paused. “Sorry, I know this is a lot.”

 

“No. I want to hear it. I like hearing about you, even if it’s not pretty.”

 

Josie chuckled darkly. “Well, I have a lot of that.”

 

“Believe me, I do, too”

 

“Really? It seems like your family is so...normal. Happy.”

 

“There’s no such thing as normal, Jo. And happy...isn’t a daily thing.”

 

“...will you tell me about it one day?”

 

Penelope chewed her lip in thought for a moment before nodding. “One day. So, what happened to make you and Lizzie not close anymore?”

 

“It wasn’t one event,” Josie said. “It was...everything. It just...all kind of came to a head in high school. I got sick of how she treated me and played me, and I found the courage to stand up for myself. It helped that I had Hope. She really supported me and told me I was worth more. Lizzie hated Hope. Still does. So we fought, and I wouldn’t go to Dad’s anymore after that. I didn’t really want to see him anymore, and I didn’t want to be around Lizzie. When Lizzie came to Mom’s, I’d go to Hope’s. Then Lizzie finally exploded, and everyone expected me to calm her down, but...I couldn’t. I couldn’t do it anymore. So I wasn’t there for her, and she’s never forgiven me. We finished high school and graduated. She stopped coming over because Hope was living with us, and we just...never saw each other. Hope and I went to college here, Lizzie decided not to go to college for awhile, but then she registered. We would see each other around campus, but didn’t talk much. Just little things to catch up, ask how our parents were, stuff like that.”

 

Penelope was stroking her fingers through Josie’s hair. “Sounds hard. To be distant with someone you were once so close, too.”

 

“So close we were wombmates,” Josie joked.

 

“Oh god, not you, too,” Penelope groaned. Dealing with her mom’s jokes was bad enough.

 

Josie giggled and turned her face into Penelope’s arm. Penelope dropped down and kissed the side of her head. “So...now you know my dramatic life story, and why my life is so fucked up.”

 

“Your life isn’t fucked up,” Penelope said softly. “I think you’re doing great.”

 

“I have a degree in library science that I’ve done nothing with.”

 

“You and every recent college graduate out there,” Penelope commented. “Though. I won’t be opposed _at all_ if you have to quit the restaurant to become a librarian.”

 

Josie playfully slapped her. “I can’t. I have to get my masters first. And I don’t want to take out even more college loans.”

 

Penelope had a thought, but she quickly swallowed it. No. She couldn’t offer Josie money. That would be ridiculous. “We’ll figure it out. I’ll help you somehow.”

 

“For a bitch, you’re really sweet.”

 

“How dare you call me sweet?” Penelope threatened, pushing Josie onto her back and leaning over her. “And how dare you remind me that you’re basically a librarian without showing me with glasses and a cute skirt?”

 

“You like that, huh?” Josie smirked.

 

“I like you,” Penelope said, before realizing it. Her eyes widened.

 

“I like you, too,” Josie said, wrapping her arms around Penelope’s neck. “But I think I already knew you liked me when you agreed to date me after a month.”

 

“I must have lost my mind.”

 

“Over me?”

 

“Sssh,” Penelope hushed her with a kiss, as she tried to calm the guilt rising in her over all of her lies.

 

* * *

 

 

And so the story goes. Penelope we see is caught up in lust and lies, and it’s starting to bring her apart. Trini and Kim are working hard to find the person who wants them dead, but what will they do when they find them? And what of poor Josie? Who doesn’t realize just what she’s caught up in? Yet. How will these ladies all fair?

 

Let’s go to where it all starts to unravel. With Penelope having a heart to heart with her Mami, only a week after her long talk with Josie.

 

“Can we talk?” Penelope walked into the kitchen where her Mami was at the stove. Whatever she was making smelled good, and Penelope peered over her shoulder. “Enchiladas? Mom’s stressed?”

 

“Mhmm, this whole thing is making her crazy,” Trini said. “Well, crazier than usual.” She glanced back at her daughter. “What’s up, babygirl?”

 

Penelope took a deep breath. “I think I should break up with Josie.”

 

“What? Why?” Trini frowned.

 

“Why?” Penelope let out a half laugh. “Because I’ve been lying to her, because my moms are using her and that basically means I’m using her, too. Because...she deserves better than that.” She glanced away at the last part.

 

“You can’t break up with her.”

 

“What does that mean?”

 

“It means, you can’t break up with her. It works for us that you’re dating her and that she’s happy. If you dump her she might leave, and then what leverage do we have against her dad?”

 

“ _That’s_ what you care about?” Penelope asked flatly.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Why do I talk to you?” Penelope shook her head and walked away from her Mami.

 

“What did you expect me to say? Break the girl’s heart? It’ll all work out? So what’s a couple small lies? It’s not like you’re the one blackmailing Saltzman.”

 

“I don’t think she’ll see it that way.”

“Pen,” Trini sighed and turned to her daughter, one hand on her hip, the other holding a spatula. “You’re happy with her, right?”

 

Penelope looked away and shrugged. “I guess so.” In her head she was screaming, _yes!_

 

“Then be happy. Enjoy it.”

 

“That’s rich coming from you,” Penelope snorted.

 

“Meaning?”

 

“You ran from mom when you guys got serious feelings. She’s told me.”

 

Trini looked at the floor with a frown then back up at her daughter. “I learned my lesson.”

 

“There’s a huge difference in our situations though, Mami, you have to admit. This...mess with Josie, it’s going to explode. And I’m going to be the bad guy.”

 

“You can’t break up with her,” Trini said, finality in her tone.

 

“Can’t?”

 

“I’m tellin’ you no. Don’t break up with her.”

 

“Are you serious right now?” Penelope asked, crossing her arms and her eyes narrowing.

 

“Yup.” Trini turned back to the stove.

 

“Mom!” Penlope shouted. A minute later Kim came into the kitchen, looking between them.

 

“When did you get here?” She asked her daughter.

 

“Mami says I’m not allowed to break up with Josie,” Penelope answered with.

 

Kim was quiet for a moment before speaking. “You’re not. We can’t deal with that right now, and we need her.”

 

“You two are unbelievable!” Penelope said, throwing her hands up. “What if I don’t listen? Huh? What if I do it anyway?”

 

“Then you plan our funerals,” Kim said simply. Penelope gaped.

 

“Way to win parenting of the year,” she finally said.

 

“Are you stayin’ for dinner?” Trini asked.

 

“No! I’m not staying for dinner!” And Penelope walked out of the kitchen and out the front door. She was pissed off, and offended, and annoyed. Any variation of those words, and she was it. She climbed on her bike and strapped her helmet on. Before she could angrily drive off, she spotted M.G. walking down the driveway. He came to a stop next to her and slid his hands into his pockets.

 

“Hey, Peez, what’s up? You not stayin’ for dinner?”

 

“No,” she grumbled. She glanced up at him. “You are?”

 

“Yeah, your moms invited me.”

 

“They probably have a job for you,” she informed him. And she wondered what it was. It was almost curious enough to make her stay. Almost.

 

“I figured, but I’m not turnin’ down Trini’s cooking.”

 

Penelope nodded. “Enjoy. Feel free to tell them they’re lousy parents.”

 

“They’re not,” he argued.

 

She just snorted and shook her head. “I’ll see you later.” She lowered the visor on her helmet, kicked off, and sped out of the driveway. She’d find out what was going on between her moms and M.G. later. Right then, she just wanted to see Josie.

 

* * *

 

 

It only took four more days for shit to hit the fan. Penelope was at home getting ready to go into the restaurant when there was a knock at the door. She finished zipping up her long boot and went to open it. There she was greeted with the very subject of all of her thoughts and brooding as of late; Josie. Penelope smiled. “JoJo,” she said warmly.

 

“No.” Josie held up a finger and pushed past Penelope. Penelope closed the door, confused.

 

“What’s-” She couldn’t even get her question out.

 

“Are your moms the Hart-Rodruigezes?”

 

“What?” She laughed it off, but her heart thudded in her chest. “Their last name is Park. Like me.”

 

“Don’t lie to me, Penelope.”

 

“I’m not!” She was. “What’s going on?”

 

“I had another visit from my dad,” Josie explained. “He said that they’re the infamous Trini and Kimberly Hart-Rodruiguez and you’re their daughter, and the restaurant is some kind of front. Like the name Park. He showed me some files he had on some of the things they’ve done...some of the things _you’ve_ done.” Josie had her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed. It was a bit frightening.

“Okay, if he had stuff like that, and if we’d done things, wouldn’t he arrest us?”

 

“He said he doesn’t have real proof that would stand up in court, and that your family has ties inside the system.”

 

“Josie, he’s trying to scare you away from us,” Penelope said, moving forward. “I mean, do I look like I could be the daughter of _mobsters_?”

 

Josie’s jaw tightened as Penelope got closer, and she took a step back. Penelope could actually see the fear in her eyes, and it killed her inside. “I think you haven’t been honest with me,” Josie finally said. Penelope reached for Josie’s elbow, but Josie twisted away from her touch. “Did your moms threaten my dad?”

 

“What?”

 

“Did they threaten him? Did they say they’d kill me?”

 

Penelope stared at Josie for a beat or two, then she sighed and dropped the act. Josie knew, and she had to accept it. “They’re not going to kill you.”

 

Josie’s eyes widened at the veiled admittance as to who Penelope was. “How do you know that?” Her voice sounded scared, but as though she were trying hard not to be.

 

“Because I know them! And because I know...the whole plan.”

 

“Plan for what?”

 

“I can’t-I can’t tell you.”

 

“But it’s about me?”

 

“Partially.”

 

“How long have you known?” Josie asked, her voice hard.

 

“I didn’t want to keep it from you.”

 

“How long have you known?!”

 

Penelope’s head dropped. “A few weeks.”

 

“You’ve been lying to me for weeks...for this whole time.”

 

“Would you have dated me if you knew who I was?” Penelope raised her head to look at Josie again.

 

“Probably not,” Josie admitted. “And I won’t date you now, either.”

 

“No, I can...I can tell you everything,” Penelope said desperately. She had never been desperate to hold a relationship together. Not once. Not until now.

 

“It’s too late for that,” Josie said, her voice resigned. “Also, you can tell your moms I quit.” She walked to the front door, dodging Penelope.

 

“Josie, wait.” There must have been something in Penelope’s tone, because Josie actually turned to look at her. “I didn’t tell you some things, and I’m sorry, but every moment we’ve had has been real. It’s been _me_.”

 

“Then it’s a shame that person is a liar and a criminal,” Josie said. “Because I was really starting to fall for her.” And then she walked out the door and slammed it shut behind herself.

 

Penelope’s eyes closed and she started to count her breathing. She tried to calm herself, because she felt ready to combust. The counting only helped so much, and she felt tears on her cheeks. She had expected everything to blow up, to come to a head, but she hadn’t thought that it was going to hurt so much.

 

She quickly texted Jed to come pick her up, because she didn’t think she could drive, and she waited for his knock on the door. She silently walked out to meet him and asked him to drive her home. He must have sensed that she wasn’t okay, because he just nodded and led the way out. He drove her home and walked her to the door. She thanked him and walked inside.

 

“Mom?” She called out, voice shaky. “Mami?”

 

Her mom came through the room in just her robe, looking out of breath, and Penelope tried not to think about why. She just looked at her mom, heartbreak in her eyes, tears like a sheet over them, and her chin trembled. “Mom…”

 

Kim looked concerned immediately and she moved closer to her daughter. “What’s wrong?”

 

“Babe? What’s goin’ on?” Trini came out of the bedroom in boxers and a tee shirt just in time to see her daughter fall into her wife’s arms.

 

“She knows,” Penelope choked out. “She knows everything.”

 

“Josie?” Trini asked. “How...that bastard.”

 

“Not now, Trin,” Kim told her. She held Penelope tightly and rubbed her back. “I’m so sorry, honey. It’s going to be okay, I promise.”

 

Trini crouched by them and reached out to run her fingers through Penelope’s hair soothingly. “We’re here, babygirl.”

 

Penelope just cried.

 

* * *

 

 

Penelope stayed with her moms the rest of the day. A part of her wanted to leave, because it was all their fault, but another part of her just needed them. She’d only had her heart broken one other time before, and this time felt worse. She tried to call Josie, but the girl didn’t answer. Then Kim took her phone away. So she lay on the couch, blanket covering her, and she wallowed. Trini made her food, but she didn’t eat it. Kim tried to make her laugh, but she couldn’t. She felt horrible. Josie was the sweetest girl she’d ever known, and she’d hurt her. How could she live with herself?

 

Once the sun had set, Penelope got up to use the bathroom and she washed her face and avoided looking at herself in the mirror. She didn’t want to see her own face. She came out and looked at her moms on the couch, and she sighed. “I’m going to step outside and get some air,” she said.

 

“You want company?” Trini asked.

 

“No,” she said. She walked outside and down to the driveway, the small rocks crunching under her feet, and she tipped her head back to look at the stars. They had the only spot in the city, well, just out of it between both cities, where you could see the stars without the lights and congestion. She loved it. She remembered camping out in the backyard with Jason and Boomer and them telling her scary stories, and making s’mores, and staring at the stars while Boomer told her all about the constellations. She had loved that so much. She’d give anything to have that for one more night. Just...forget everything that was going on.

 

“Penelope.”

 

Penelope’s head shot back up at the sound of Josie’s voice. Josie was there, standing several feet from her, staring at her. “Josie,” she said, breathlessly. “What are you doing here?”

 

“Convinced Landon to bring me, and he got me past those...men up there,” she nodded up the driveway. “If you’re trying to keep where they live on lockdown you should maybe talk to him, because it was really easy to break him.”

 

Mouthing wordlessly for a moment, Penelope just stared in shock. Josie was there. In front of her. “I wanted to talk to you,” she said.

 

“No. _I_ want to talk to _you_ ,” Josie replied. “I’ve been...so angry all day,” she let out a huff of a laugh. “And I just kept thinking of more things I want to say to you.”

 

“Okay,” Penelope nodded. “You can say it.”

 

Josie looked down at her feet for a moment then looked back up, sliding her hands into her back pockets. “You broke my trust. I think you know...I don’t trust everyone. But I trusted you. I gave you my heart. Before I even realized I had.”

 

“I know...and I didn’t want to lie to you. I mean, at first...I think I didn’t mind, but when it…” Penelope closed her eyes. She wasn’t good at opening up, but she had to try for Josie if she had any hope of being forgiven. “When things got more serious...I wanted to tell you everything.”

 

“Then why didn’t you?” Josie’s words came out bittingly.

 

“Cuz I told her not to.” Both turned and saw Trini standing on the porch with her hands on her hips. Her eyes were narrowed slightly and she was watching Josie.

 

“We did,” said Kim, stepping to Trini’s side. “If you want to be mad at anyone, be mad at us.”

 

Penelope turned to Josie to see how was taking their words, but Josie was just shaking her head. “That doesn’t get her out of it,” Josie said. “She still lied to me. And you’re all still...bad people.”

 

“Are we?” Kim asked. “You’ve known us awhile now. You think we’re bad people?” She walked down the steps of the porch and stepped up beside Penelope. Trini came down to her other side.

 

“Do you hurt people? Kill them?” Josie asked. No one responded. “Then yes, you’re bad people.” She brought her hand up to rub her forehead. “I don’t know why I’m here.”

 

“Because you’re angry at me and want to get it out,” Penelope said. “My moms can go back inside. We can talk.”

 

“I don’t want to talk,” Josie said. “I’m not here to work things out. We’re still done. I still want _nothing_ to do with you. With any of you.” She turned to go and stumbled to a stop when a figure came down the driveway.

 

“Just my luck! I’ve found all of you at once! And I don’t know who _you_ are, but the more the merrier I always say!” A woman clad in dark green leather, dark hair hanging around her shoulders, and a thin, bony face stood at Josie’s side. She lifted her hand, which held an impressive golden gun.

 

“Rita,” Trini and Kim gasped together.

 

“Aw, you remember me. I’m so pleased.” The woman smiled, but it was a scary smile. Her three gold teeth glimmered in the moonlight.

 

“Who is she?” Penelope asked, not taking her eyes off of the woman.

 

“You haven’t told your spawn about me?” Rita frowned. “I’m hurt, ladies.”

 

“...can I go?” Josie asked, panic in her voice.

 

“No. Get over there with them,” Rita said, waving her gun at the three women in front of her. Josie quickly rushed over to Trini’s side, and Trini put an arm out in front of her protectively.

 

“What do you want, Repulsa?” She asked sharply.

 

“If you haven’t figured it out by now, I want you dead. Unfortunately, no one can seem to get the job done, so I’ve come to do it myself! I do apologize for your men back there. They never saw me coming.”

 

“Our daughter and her friend have nothing to do with our old business,” Kim said carefully. “Let them go.”

“Mmm, no. I don’t think I will. Come for two, get four, works for me!” She grinned again. She looked Penelope over. “Well, she sure has grown up. Easy to tell she’s yours.”

 

“Who _is_ she?” Penelope asked again.

 

“Do you want to tell the story or should I?” Rita asked. “Ooh! Let me! Let me!” She laughed and moved closer, her gun still aimed at them. “You see, I knew your Grandpa Gus. He was a nasty man. I worked for him for years, and then he tried to take me out. His man, my old friend, Zordon, didn’t do a good enough job. I got away.” She had a proud smirk on her lips that turned sinister. “I spent years trying to kill that old son-of-a-bitch, but he had too many men. I killed a lot of them. Then old Gus’ ticker gave out and took him down before I could. I thought it was the perfect chance to take over the city. I had my own men, I had the _heart_. Then little lady here took over for Daddy. She took down all of my men and put me out of business. It took a few years, but I had a new one going. Taking little boys and girls and selling them to the highest bidders. It was going great, until your precious mommies got involved. Seems two hardened criminals like them have some morals.” She spat onto the ground.

 

Penelope had a sinking feeling in her chest. She looked at her Mami, who was glaring daggers at Rita, then at her Mom, who looked back at her with an apologetic face. She opened her mouth to ask the question burning in the back of her mind, but Rita took over.

 

“They came along, took my most expensive girl, and dismantled my business. Took all my kids, killed more of my men, sent the rest to jail. Put out word to all the buyers that they’d be killed too if they ever took my business again.” Rita’s words got harder and harder as she went, her eyes glaring at Penelope’s moms. “So I decided it was time to finish it once and for all. And if I take out all of you, there will be no one to take the mantel and it’ll be my time!”

 

“Took you long enough,” Trini bit back. “Think we haven’t been keeping track of you? You’ve been doing small time stuff for years. Can’t get back in, can you?”

 

“Oh, but now I will,” Rita growled. “Junior. Come here.”

 

“W-what?” Penelope asked.

 

“Over here! Now!” Rita pointed the gun directly at Josie.

 

“Okay!” Penelope raised her hands and rushed over to Rita. As she got closer she realized that the woman stunk. Like dead fish. She tried not to gag. “What do you want?”

 

“To kill the little girl that ruined everything,” Rita grunted. She grabbed Penelope by the arm and tugged her against her chest, moving the gun to Penelope’s temple.

 

“No!” Kim screamed.

 

“Stop this, Rita!” Trini shouted.

 

Josie stared, eyes wider than ever, quiet in shock.

 

“No, no, don’t bother,” Rita said. “I’m going to kill her, and then I’m going to kill each one of you. And you can all watch each other die,” she said, laughing darkly. She was crazed.

 

“We’ll call a truce!” Kim spat out. “We won’t come between you and your jobs anymore, and you can let us go.” Penelope knew it wasn’t like her mom to barter, it was usually her way or no way, but apparently her daughter was worth a change.

 

Rita’s focus was on Trini and Kim, and she barely paid Josie any mind. “No. No truce. I want your city. I want both of them. And the only way that will happen is if I take all three of you down.”

 

“Our people won’t let you have it,” Trini told her. “They’re loyal.”

 

“They’re no one!” Rita argued. She released the safety on the gun and cocked it. Penelope started to shake. It wasn’t the first time she had been on the other side of a gun, or any weapon, but it was the first time she was legitimately afraid she would die. “Have anything to say to them first, Junior?”

 

“Don’t,” Trini called out. “You’re gonna be okay, we’ll figure this out.”

 

“No. She’s not going to be _okay_ ,” Rita replied bitingly. “She’s going to die in two minutes. So if she wants her tearful goodbyes she should say them now.”

 

Penelope clenched her shaking fists and looked between her mothers. How could she say anything that would convey the things she felt for them? They gave her a life. A great life. An exciting life. The tears had begun, and her voice shook as she spoke. “I love you both, so... _so_ much,” she said, looking between her moms. They both looked on the verge of tears themselves, and she knew they were only holding it together for her. “Thank you for being my Mom and my Mami. Thank you for showing me what real love is.” She closed her eyes, more tears spilling out, unable to continue. Rita shoved the gun into her head again.

 

“And that one?” She nodded at Josie.

 

Penelope met Josie’s gaze, and Josie had tears on her cheeks. Penelope wished she could go over and wipe them away. She wished she could hold her girl one more time. “Be strong, JoJo. Be strong for me.” Her heart felt like it was breaking again. “I love you.” And it was the most honest she had been in her entire life. She watched Josie’s eyes close as the girl cried.

 

“How...charming,” Rita drawled. “I’m going to kill your daughter. And then...I think Hart. Yes. Rodriguez, you can watch them both die before I kill you. Then, that one, to tie up the loose ends.” Rita laughed.

 

Then, it all happened in a split second that felt like several minutes. Penelope was still staring at Josie, who had opened her eyes and was staring back at Penelope. Josie tilted her head slightly, and Penelope wasn’t quite sure why. Then she watched as Josie, still unwatched by Rita, grabbed the gun from Trini’s back and pulled it out. Penelope got it then. She tilted her head, and Josie shot.

 

 _BANG_.

 

* * *

 

 

“Are you okay?” Penelope wiped her hands across Josie’s face, most of the tears already dry.

 

“...yeah,” Josie said softly. She looked down into Penelope’s eyes. “I am.”

 

“Thank you,” Penelope said, yet again. She kissed Josie’s cheek. “I know...I know you hate us, but thank you.”

 

“Yeah,” Trini said, coming up behind Josie. She put an arm around the girl’s shoulders. “I wasn’t sure what the hell you were doin’ there for a minute, but damn I’m glad you did.”

 

“That makes three of us,” Kim said, standing at their sides.

 

“You don’t have to thank me,” Josie said. “She was going to kill Penelope and I just...got so angry...but, so she was going to kill me, too.”

 

Behind them, several men were cleaning up. They’d already removed Rita’s body, a gunshot between her eyes, and they were cleaning up the blood and disposing of the gun as well as taking care of the two men at the top of the driveway. They all watched the scene for a moment before pulling away from each other.

 

“Let’s make some hot chocolate,” Trini said. “Join us, Josie. You’re probably in shock, and you don’t need to deal with that alone.”

 

“Hot chocolate?” Josie asked, doubtfully.

 

“Abuelo Gus said hot chocolate soothed everything,” Penelope explained.

 

“And Abuelo Gus knew his shit,” Kim added with a small smile, nudging Josie’s arm.

 

Josie smiled slightly and nodded. “Okay. And...you guys can tell me what’s going to happen now?”

 

“Sure,” Trini said, leading the way inside. “But either way, you don’t hafta worry. We got you.”

 

Penelope looked at Josie, neither of them having moved yet, and she tentatively reached down for Josie’s hand. Josie looked down at their hands for a moment, then squeezed Penelope’s and held on. Penelope smiled and led Josie inside behind her mothers.

Rita was dead. The threat was over. The lies were over. Maybe there was hope. Maybe.

 

* * *

 

 

“Fuck,” Trini sighed, closing the bedroom door. She rubbed her face.

 

“Pretty much,” Kim replied from the edge of the bed.

 

Trini moved over to sit beside her wife. “We should have made them stay here tonight. That was...a lot. Especially for Josie.”

 

“They need some time alone,” Kim pointed out. “Pen will take care of Josie tonight.”

 

“Yeah…” Trini nodded. She stared at the floor silently. Kim reached out and rubbed the back of her neck.

 

“Talk to me.”

 

“Usually...threats like that don’t scare me, but...maybe it’s ‘cuz the girls were there...I was _scared_ ,” Trini admitted softly.

 

“Me too,” Kim said. She moved closer and rested her forehead to the side of Trini’s head. “I thought...we were far enough away that we had a chance, but... _Pen_ …” Her voice broke. “My baby…”

 

“She’s okay.”

 

“I know.”

 

Neither wanted to say how close it had been to not okay.

 

“I can’t ever do that,” Trini said after a while. “Watch you two die. I won’t.”

 

“You won’t have to,” Kim said. “Rita’s gone. We’ve got control over everything else. These are our cities, and we are in control.”

 

Suddenly, Trini turned her head and kissed Kim deeply. Their hands were on each other’s necks, in each other’s hair, and they kissed desperately. They fell to their sides and their bodies wrapped together as they continued to kiss. Trini tore her lips from Kim’s press hard kisses across her face and her neck.

 

“I love you,” she whispered shakily. “I love you _so_ much.”

 

“Trin,” Kim whispered, the tears starting. Trini tried to kiss them all away, and Kim pulled her face up so their lips could connect again. The kiss was fiery and deep as they started to peel each other’s clothes off.

 

Trini pulled away so she could kiss all of the skin that she could reach. She whispered her ‘I love you’s all over Kim’s body before latching onto one of her nipples and sucking it hard. She ran her tongue around it and bit it and sucked it more. Kim moaned and pushed her body up to Trini, and Trini moved to the other nipple to do the same. Kim’s fingers stroked through Trini’s hair. Trini pulled back to return her lips to Kim’s skin. She kissed her everywhere, each whispered ‘I love you’ breaking more and more. Her lips were moving against Kim’s hipbone when her own tears started, and Trini tried to ignore them as she continued. Her mouth moved down, kissed inside of each thigh, before pressing between Kim’s legs.

 

Kim gasped and slid a hand down into Trini’s hair. She felt Trini’s mouth and tongue moving against her hungrily, and her hips canted up to meet them. The more Trini worked, the more pleasure Kim felt, and her head tipped back and her eyes closed. She felt two of Trini’s fingers enter her, and she cried out her wife’s name. She felt desperate for an orgasm, for a good feeling to wash over and wipe away all the bad that she felt. She was able to stop thinking about everything that had happened, stop picturing her daughter on the other end of that bitch’s gun, and just feel _good_. Trini’s fingers worked quickly, and her mouth was on Kim’s clit, and Kim felt it coming. She panted and gasped, and it hit her unexpectedly. Trini’s name was on Kim’s lips once more and she let the orgasm run through her, making her body quake.

 

When she calmed, Trini kissed her way back up Kim’s body and found her lips, and they kissed passionately. Kim let herself float away in the feeling of kissing her wife for awhile until she felt composed again. Her hand found Trini’s breast and squeezed it, flicking her nipple with her thumb, before sliding on down her body and between her legs. She swallowed Trini’s whimper.

 

“Love you,” she murmured against her wife’s lips, before running her fingers through her. “You’re so good to us...so good…” she whispered. She kissed her cheek and her angled jaw. “Old and grey baby, old and grey…” Then she pressed her fingers into Trini and slowly started to move them. Trini’s head fell back, and Kim kissed her throat. Kim fucked Trini slowly for a long time, just enjoying the warm feel of her body. Trini was whimpering, begging Kim’s name softly. Kim gave in and sped her fingers up; fast and hard.

 

“Yes,” Trini kept whispering. Kim watched her, her beautiful, dangerous wife, and fell in love all over again. They had come such a long way, and they had a long way to go. She wouldn’t ever let it get that close again. Trini thought she was the protector of the family, but Kim knew better. Kim knew she would shoot down the world before letting her family go.

 

“Let go, love, let go,” Kim whispered in Trini’s ear, her thumb playing music on her clit. She knew all the right notes to please her wife. And like that, Trini came against Kim’s palm. Kim eased Trini through it and whispered sweet nothings in her ear, and they both spread out on the bed, not letting go of one another.

 

As Trini came down, her chest started to rise and fall in irregular patterns. Her chin shook. Kim wrapped her whole body around her and held on tightly just in time for Trini’s tears to break again. Kim didn’t have any more words that she hadn’t already said, so she pressed her lips to Trini’s jaw and just held her. They all needed to process. They all needed to release the shock. Kim just needed to let Trini go first.

 

* * *

 

 

“Can I get you anything?”

 

“Penelope, you’ve asked me that, like, five times already,” Josie said, staring up at Penelope from the couch.

 

Penelope paced. “Sorry. I just…” She gnawed on her lip. She didn’t know what she should do or say. She didn’t know what to feel. Her heart was still racing, and she kept hearing the echo of that bullet close to her ear. In fact, the world still sounded a little hollow from the sound messing with her hearing temporarily.

 

“Can you...sit with me?”

 

“Sure.” Penelope sat down, leaving several inches of space between them. She looked at Josie, who looked composed, but had shaking hands. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

 

“She was going to kill you,” Josie said flatly. “I would do it again in a heartbeat.”

 

“But you hate me,” Penelope laughed.

 

“I...I know.”

 

Penelope ran her fingers through her hair. “Thank you.”

 

“You already said that.”

 

“I don’t care. You saved my life, all of our lives. And...god, it was so stupid. You could have hurt yourself. Or she could have shot you. What you did was stupid, Jo.”

 

“I know,” Josie said softly. She brought her head up to meet Penelope’s eyes. “And I’d do it again.”

 

“Why?” Penelope whispered. She needed to know. No, maybe Josie shouldn’t want her dead, but Josie shouldn’t want to _kill_ for her. A thing like that _meant_ something.

 

“Because…” Josie’s eyes floated away and settled on something over Penelope’s shoulder. “I’m angry that you lied to me...that you are who you are...but you’re still _mine_ to be angry at. No one can just... _take_ you from me.”

 

“No one ever will,” Penelope promised softly. “That was a-a fluke. I’m so safe and protected.”

 

“Because you’re in the mob,” Josie finished.

 

“My family is who they are. I am who I am. And you...you have seen more of me than anyone in the world, JoJo.” Penelope risked reaching out and touching Josie’s cheek. She loved Josie’s cheeks. Her thumb brushed against it, and Josie didn’t flinch.

 

“Did you mean what you said?”

 

“What?” Penelope played dumb, but she knew what Josie meant. It had been on Penelope’s mind since it happened.

 

“That you...love me?”

 

“It was...all happening so fast. I…” She faded off at the unconvinced look in Josie’s eyes and she sighed. “Yeah, I think so.”

 

“Okay,” Josie nodded, apparently satisfied with the answer.

 

“Josie, we-”

 

“We can’t...make any decisions right now. We’re...in shock.”

 

“Okay,” Peneope agreed with a sigh. “No decisions.”

 

“And...if I kiss you it’s not because I want to get back together, but because I’m in shock and need comfort.”

 

Penelope’s heart jumped and she nodded. “Okay.”

 

Josie’s eyes fell to Penelope’s again, and they stared at each other for a long time, then Josie cuped Penelope’s cheek and kissed her. Penelope sighed and kissed her back. They continued kissing for awhile, pushing each other back and forth trying to gain control, but finally Josie ended up on her back with Penelope on top of her. Penelope’s arm rested beside Josie’s head, and Penelope’s hair fell over them both, hiding them from the world. They kissed deeply and passionately, not letting go of one another’s faces. Their legs tangled together, and their hips rocked back and forth.

 

Finally, Penelope pulled up and looked down at Josie, and Josie looked back with lips puffy and red. A hint of a smile was on Penelope’s lips as she stared down at the girl.

 

“Come to bed with me,” Penelope whispered.

 

Josie had a thoughtful look on her face, considering, then she swallowed. “Only...if you make love to me.”

 

“That was the plan,” Penelope said with a smirk, her heart jumping again at the words. She never thought she’d do that...make love...but at the moment they were the only words that felt right for what she was about to do.

 

Penelope got to her feet and held out her hands to Josie, who took them and got up. They wrapped their arms around each other and pressed their foreheads together, and with little smirks on their faces they walked together to Penelope’s room.

 

They stilled outside Penelope’s door.

 

“Your world scares me,” Josie whispered.

 

Penelope took a breath. “Not to get all Disney on you, but...I could show you the world...through mine. It’s really, really great.”

 

“It still scares me.”

 

“Do...I scare you?” Penelope asked, unsure if she wanted to hear the answer. She held her breath.

 

“No,” Josie finally whispered.

 

“Good,” Penelope replied, relieved. She pushed her bedroom door open behind her and tugged Josie through before pushing it shut again.

 

There was only silence, the sound of a bed creaking, and then-

 

“Sir Raddington! Out!”

 

* * *

 

 

Penelope and Josie hadn’t left the apartment in days. Josie was too scared, and Penelope was too content. More so, they had hardly left Penelope’s bed. They were too busy memorizing one another’s bodies, and burying each other in a comfort that they both needed. Josie continued to insist they weren’t back together, that she still didn’t approve of Penelope’s life, but Penelope saw through that. She felt how Josie kissed her and touched her, and saw the way Josie looked at her. She knew they had something that wasn’t going away, no matter how much Josie protested.

 

It was late morning on one of those days that Penelope lay in bed, happy and serene, still oblivious to the world outside. And her phone chirped with a text. She reached for it and read it quietly, a smile coming to her lips at her Mami’s words. She quickly responded before putting her phone down and looking at the sleeping girl beside her. Her parents had checked in constantly while Peneope and Josie cocooned themselves from the world, and Penelope only responded because of what had happened. Because she knew they were worried.

 

She reached over and pushed the hair from Josie’s face and leaned in to kiss her cheek. “JoJo,” she whispered. “Wake up.” Her knuckles trailed down Josie’s neck and she watched Josie’s body shiver. She smirked. “Come on, wake up.”

 

“Nooo,” Josie whined, burying her face in her pillow.

 

“I want to take you somewhere.”

 

“...leave?”

 

“Yeah. It’ll be okay. We’re going somewhere safe.”

 

“Safe is a relative term with you.” Josie’s words were muffled by the pillow, but Penelope understood them.

 

“No. Safe is a promise with me.”

 

Josie opened one eye and stared at Penelope. “Where are we going?”

 

“Will you trust me and just see for yourself?”

 

“...fine,” Josie grumbled.

 

Penelope thought it was cute how grumpy Josie could be when woken up, but she didn’t say it. Instead she sat up and ran her fingers through her hair. “I washed your clothes from the other night.”

 

“Penelope Park...Hart-Rodriguez did my laundry?”

 

“I can do nice things,” Penelope said, defending herself. “Besides, all of my clothes would be too small on you.”

 

“Okay.” Josie sat up and looked at Penelope. “Promise we’ll be safe?”

 

“I promise.”

 

The two got out of bed and took turns taking showers and getting dressed. They walked to the front door, and Josie grabbed Peneope’s hand. Penelope squeezed it and opened the door. She was greeted by Jed and, amazingly, Kaleb. He looked a little worse for the wear; healing scars all over his skin and a harder edge in his eyes. Penelope looked him up and down and gave him a nod.

 

“It’s good to see you,” she said, genuinely.

 

“You, too, Junior,” he said.

 

Penelope stiffened. “Don’t...don’t call me that anymore, okay?”

 

“You got it, Penelope. You two ready?”

 

“Are we?” Penelope looked at Josie. Josie lifted her chin, her back straight, and nodded. “We are,” Penelope told Kaleb.

 

Kaleb led the way out of the apartment, Penelope and Josie behind him and Jed behind them. They got into an SUV and started to roll through the city. Penelope squeezed Josie’s hand again. Josie glanced from the window where she was watching the world go by to Penelope and she smiled a bit anxiously.

 

“I’d be really happy if we’re going out for ice cream,” Josie said.

 

“We can get ice cream after,” Penelope promised.

 

Before long they pulled into an abandoned parking lot in front of a huge warehouse, and the SUV came to a stop. Penelope got out and helped Josie down before walking towards the door, still holding Josie’s hand.

 

“What is this place?” Josie asked.

 

Penelope gave her a soft smirk over her shoulder. “My moms’ office. One of them.” She led Josie inside and glanced around. It seemed everyone was there hanging out. Probably in support of all her mothers had gone through recently. Or awaiting job assignments. She first spotted a card table sitting off to one side of the open warehouse area, and four men sitting around it. She tugged Josie over.

 

“Hey, Pen,” Jason said warmly, spotting her first. He extended an arm and Penelope let go of Josie to go over and give him a side hug.

 

“Hi, Jase. Who’s winning?” She looked around at the men holding cards in their hands, chips on the table.

 

“So far, Boomer,” he chuckled.

 

Penelope looked across the table at Billy. “Yeah?”

 

“To be fair,” Boomer said. “I usually win, because I take into consider-”

 

“It’s because he’s really smart,” Zack Taylor said, placing his cards down. “I fold.”

 

Landon just tapped his hands to the table. “I’m not very good at this game.”

 

“We know,” the other three men chorused.

 

“Fancy seeing you, Taylor,” Penelope said to the hitman. “You only show your face, what, every full moon?”

 

He smirked and cast his dark eyes on her. “You look good, kid.”

 

“I always look good,” she told him. Josie tugged her hand and she looked back, then looked at the guys again. “Oh! Guys, this is Josie.”

 

“Is she your girlfriend?” Boomer asked.

 

“I...she...we…” Penelope stuttered.

 

“Yes,” Josie answered, surely. Penelope looked at her with wide eyes and Josie looked back. She seemed to be saying, _yes, I gave in, don’t make it a big deal_. And Penelope nodded and looked back at the men.

 

“My girlfriend. No jokes or I tell my moms on you.”

 

“Harsh,” Taylor said. Then he smiled at Josie. “It’s nice to meet you. Welcome.”

 

“Yes, welcome Josie!” Boomer said with a wave and a smile.

 

“You already know me,” Landon said a bit obviously. Both girls just stared at him for a moment before moving on.

 

“We should go find my moms,” Penelope said, starting to pull Josie away.

 

“See ya,” Jason said.

 

“Don’t you two do anything I would,” Taylor smirked.

 

Penelope shook her head and lead Josie on. Before she could get to the stairs that led up to the office, she spotted Alpha sitting calmly by himself near one of the windows. She walked over to him and beamed.

 

“Now are you back?”

 

He looked up, smiled warmly, and nodded. “That I am. Hello, Penelope, dear.”

 

She let go of Josie to lean over and throw her arms around Alpha, and he hugged her back tightly. “Alpha, I want you to meet someone really important to me. Alpha, this is Josie.”

 

Josie smiled and held out her hand to him. “Hello.”

 

“Oh. Josie, hm?” He glanced at Penelope with a raised brow and she gave him a look not to say anything. He smiled and took Josie’s hand. “It is a pleasure, my dear, to meet you.”

 

“Alpha has been with the family since before I was alive,” Penelope told Josie. “He was actually the first person to find me.”

 

“Find you?” Josie frowned.

 

“Ahh...story for another day,” Penelope said.

 

“I was the stork to bring her to her family,” Alpha explained.

 

“Oh.” Josie nodded, and Penelope was sure that hadn’t cleared anything up for her, but it really was too long of a story to get into at the moment. And it was a hard story, because she didn’t like to remember that time in her life. Even though it shadowed over her all the time, and was a part of why she was the way she was.

 

“Mami wanted to see us, so we’re going upstairs,” Penelope told Alpha.

 

“I’m happy to have met you, Josie. I hope we can sit down and talk one of these days,” Alpha said.

 

“That would be...nice,” Josie nodded. She took Penelope’s hand again.

 

Walking side by side, the two moved for the stairs. Penelope glanced around, noticing one face was absent. Come to think of it, she hadn’t seen M.G. since the night outside her parents’ house. She wondered just what he was up to.

 

“What’s behind those doors?” Josie asked, pointing to the dual doors under the stairs.

 

“You don’t want to know,” Penelope answered honestly. “If I told you, you might reconsider this whole...girlfriend thing.”

 

“I’m pretty serious about it actually,” Josie said, stopping them at the bottom of the stairs. “I know...I said I couldn’t get passed who you are and what you do, but....I don’t know. These past few days have been great, and…” She looked away as if trying to decide what to say, then she sighed and looked at Penelope again. “I’m still not okay with it, but...I don’t think you and your family are all bad. It’s not black and white.”

 

“I’m glad you see it that way,” Penelope nodded. “We love these cities,” she went on. “We want to see the people that struggle get a step up, and we want the people who make it a worse place to answer for it.”

 

“So you’re a bunch of Robin Hoods?”

 

“I...wouldn’t say we’re that good,” Penelope said. “We still like to profit for ourselves and cause trouble because...it’s fun.”

 

“...I may need time,” Josie replied. “To see things the way you do.”

 

“No one says you have to,” Penelope told her, bringing her hand up to kiss the back of it.

 

“Thank you.”

 

“Come on. They want to see both of us.” Penelope led the way up the stairs.

 

“Did they say why?” Josie asked with a frown.

 

“Nope,” Penelope lied. She knocked on the door and waited to hear her Mom’s ‘ _come in_ ’ and she pushed the door open.

 

The two girls walked inside and came face to face with the mob mothers themselves, sitting at two similar desks pushed up side by side. They both looked up and smiled when they saw their daughter.

 

“Hey, babygirl,” Trini said. “Close the door.”

 

Penelope did as she was told then stood by Josie’s side in front of the desks. “I’ll have you know, you dragged us out of bed for this.”

 

Kim made a face and held up a hand. “We don’t want to know.”

 

“Does that mean you two worked things out?” Trini asked, her tone professional.

 

“Yeah...I think so,” Penelope nodded, glancing at Josie who blushed and looked down.

 

“Good,” Trini nodded. “So. The Situation is dealt with and won’t be a problem. The clean up went well, and no one will need to know anything about what went down.”

 

“Does that mean…” Josie started.

 

“You have nothing to worry about,” Kim said. Josie nodded, and Penelope could see relief wash over her body.

 

“Our men didn’t make it,” Trini went on, firm frown etched onto her face.

 

“Who was it?” Penelope asked.

 

“New guys,” Trini answered. “You didn’t know them.”

 

“Good,” Penelope said with an exhale. It wasn’t good that their men died, but she was glad it wasn’t someone who actually mattered to her. Even though she would understand and deal with it, because it was the nature of their work, she still preferred the ones she liked stay alive. “What about her men?”

 

“Weren’t many of them,” Kim said, leaning back in her chair and folding an arm behind her head. “We took ‘em out.”

 

“Like...killed them?” Josie paled slightly.

 

“Yeah, exactly like that,” Trini said bluntly.

 

“Oh…”

 

“They wanted to follow her plan,” Kim explained. “They weren’t good men. They would have sought revenge.”

 

“Okay,” Josie nodded.

 

Penelope turned to her. “This is what we do. I told you, it’s not all pretty.”

 

“It’s rarely pretty,” Trini added.

 

“Mami, not helping,” Penelope snapped at her.

 

“I’m trying to not sugarcoat it for her,” Trini replied.

 

“I think Josie understands just fine,” Kim said.

 

Trini just shook her head. “How are you two? Josie?”

 

Josie looked up at Trini and they held a gaze for a moment, and Josie shrugged. “I’m alright. I know...she was bad, and she was going to kill Penelope...but I still killed a human being.”

 

“She was hardly human,” Kim snorted.

 

“Was it easy for any of  you?” Josie asked, looking around the room. “The first time you did it?”

 

“Yes,” Trini answered, honestly.

 

“Yes and no,” Kim said. “I knew what I was doing, and I knew it was my destiny, so to speak, but in the moment after...I had a second of regret.”

 

“You did?” Penelope asked. She had never heard her mom say that before, and it shocked her.

 

“Sure,” Kim nodded. “And then the second after that I remembered what I was there to do, and I was fine.”

 

“What about you?” Josie looked to Penelope.

 

Penelope kept her eyes on her heeled boots for a moment then looked up at her parents. They both watched her in knowing concern. She looked at Josie. “It was necessary,” she said, and left it at that.

 

“Okay,” Josie murmured. She squeezed Penelope’s hand.

 

“Was there anything else?” Penelope asked, voice rising as she looked at Trini and Kim.

 

“Yes, actually,” Trini said. She looked at her wife who gave her a nod, then looked at Josie. “What you did was impressive. You’ve never shot before?”

 

Josie’s eyes widened and she shook her head. “No. I mean, my dad had guns growing up, but they were locked up. He taught us never to touch them.”

 

“How did you know what to do?” Tirni asked.

 

“I don’t...I don’t know. I just...I heard Penelope say- ...I heard her speak to me, and I closed my eyes so I wouldn’t have to see it, and my next thought was that...you had a gun. I don’t know how I knew, but I did. And I knew I had to try something.”

 

“Took balls,” Kim said. “Not only that, but you had a perfect shot. Few inches over and you would’ve gotten Pen.”

 

“I’m so glad you didn’t, by the way,” Penelope said.

 

“All I could see was...her,” Josie went on. “And I felt this anger inside of me...like it was primal.”

 

“So you grabbed my gun and shot without aim,” Trini led.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Some of the most practiced gunmen can’t hit a target like you did,” Trini told her. “Between the eyes?” She shook her head. “I don’t believe it.”

 

“I swear, I never...I didn’t…”

 

“Ssh,” Penelope tried to calm her girlfriend. “Mami, stop this. What are you getting at?”

 

“What I’m getting at…” Trini said. She stared at Josie for a long moment then opened her desk drawer and took something out. “Josie. We’d like for you to consider joining the family.”

 

Josie’s eyes widened more and she took a step back, shaking her head. “Oh. I don’t think we’re ready to talk about marriage, we just-”

 

Trini and Kim were both smirking. “We weren’t thinking about marriage,” Trini said. She set a gun to her desk and slid it across. Josie stared at it for awhile, then stepped forward and picked it up. She held it out and twisted and turned it slowly, getting a good look at it. Then she looked across the table at Kim and Trini, who were still smirking, and she gulped.

 

* * *

 

They were all standing at the door of the office, the girls ready to go, and Penelope stopped and turned to her mom.

 

“Hey, where’s M.G.? What’s the job you sent him on?”

 

Kim glanced at Josie, seemingly unsure if she should talk about it in front of her, but then seemed resigned. “He’s taking out a target. Old case of my dad’s that has needed tying up for some time.”

 

“And?” Penelope asked, curious.

 

“Your grandfather had a guy working for him who turned, got some of our men killed, so your grandfather ordered that he be taken down. His whole family, too. Only one of them got away, and we think she saw the whole thing so like I said, it’s about time we clean it up.”

 

“Who was he?” Josie asked softly.

 

“I don’t know. Mikaelson,” Kim shrugged.

 

“Hope,” Josie and Penelope whispered as one.

  



End file.
